Trainerless
by Infinite Nexus
Summary: Among the creatures of the world, there exists a definite food chain. And none know their position at the bottom of this hierarchy more than the rattata and pidgey. However, two friends refuse to take this lying down. By taking on the Kanto League, they shall beat the humans at their own game and prove to themselves that they were wrong to have dismissed them as weak.
1. Chapter 1: The agreement

"Charmander, use scratch!"

In Kanto's Route 1, a familiar scene was playing out to the local Pokémon.

A young trainer, complete with a Pokéball themed backpack and a ridiculous cap, was eagerly jumping about while yelling out commands to his equally-eager Pokémon.

The Charmander let out a yell that was perhaps meant to be threatening yet came out adorable. The lizard rushed its opponent. Its opponent, a Rattata, froze, slightly overwhelmed by the shouts, before hurriedly moving aside so that the fire type's claws only scraped his back. He responded with a quick tackle to the Charmander's side only to receive a much more damaging ember in his face. As the Rattata recoiled from the flames, the trainer called out for a scratch which, unlike the last one, successfully connected. The Rattata squeaked in pain but still fought back. He tried a quick attack which didn't do much and all it took was one more ember to knock him from the fight.

"Yeah! You did it Charmander!" The trainer shouted.

The Charmander let out a happy " _Charmander_!" which, unbeknownst to the trainer, meant " _I did_!"

Laughing, the two continued along the first route of their adventure.

The Rattata was left where he had fallen. After a few minutes, he began to stir and let out a weak moan. For a moment, he seemed disorientated. However, his encounter with the trainer soon came rushing back to him and the purple rat gasped and shot upright. A few seconds of panic was followed by him visibly relaxing upon realising he had been left alone. His ears relaxed and his breathing slowed, but he still appeared shaken.

He cautiously set off, his white paws hardly making a sound as they darted over the vibrant grass. Once he had reached the shade of the trees, the Rattata slowed down and began to sniff the air. Soon he came to a hole tucked in the roots of one of the trees and slipped inside where he curled up. The Rattata noticed he was shaking slightly and took in a deep breath. He let it out slowly. This seemed to work, before long he drifted into a light sleep.

"COLBY!"

A sudden shrill voice from outside the burrow caused the Rattata to jolt awake. Jumping to all fours, his coarse fur bristling, he turned to the entrance.

"Who ... Who's that?" He called. While he had intended the challenge to sound intimidating, his young voice combined with his nerves made the question come out as more of a squeak.

"It's me! You know, Meilikki? Your friend? Pidgey?"

"Oh." The Rattata responded. Slowly, he stepped forward and poked his head out to the sight of a small brown bird. She was hopping between two clawed talons.

"Hey, Meili." He said. His voice had gone from frightened to just tired. The day was starting to get to him.

Despite this, Meilikki did not lose any of her enthusiasm.

"What you doing here? It's getting late!" She asked, taking a step back to allow Colby to exit his small burrow.

"I didn't want to go home just yet." He said dejectedly.

"Why? And why do you sound upset?"

Cobly took a look around. While the answer wasn't exactly a secret, he still didn't want to be overheard. He found that the area was more or less empty but he still leaned in before he answered.

"I met a trainer." he whispered. The flying type's eyes went wide at this revelation as she fluttered into the air briefly in excitement.

"Really? Wow!" She exclaimed "Did you battle them?" Seeing Colby's nod, she gasped and asked, "Did you win?"

At this, Colby's ears went flat against his head and he looked to the ground.

"No." He told her in a meek voice.

"Oh." The Pidgey seemed to pick up on her friend's mood as her voice became much more subdued.

"Um, are you ok?" She asked, sounding rather awkward – as if she felt this question was coming too late.

"He had this weird orange Pokémon that nearly set me on fire!" The Rattata told her. "It was really strong and I fainted."

Meilikki looked shocked.

"It nearly set you on fire? Wow, trained Pokémon are so strange!"

Colby could only give an upset nod which prompted her to calm down again.

"It's really cool that you battled them, though." She told him, trying to be supportive.

"But I lost! I'm never going to be strong like you."

"I'm not stronger than you!" Said Meilikki, surprised. "I've only ever beaten one other Pokémon."

"But I never have." Colby insisted. The Rattata took his tail in a forepaw and began to fiddle with the end. "I never even do much damage."

Colby had been so busy lamenting his loss that he was startled when he felt something soft wrap around him. Looking towards Meilikki, he found the bird standing next to him with a wing wrapped around his back – the closest she could come to giving him a hug. Colby froze in place. He could feel his face growing hot under his fur and clutched his tail slightly harder. Soon he relaxed in his friend's warm feathers and found himself returning the hug.

After a few seconds, Meilikki removed her wing and Colby stepped back, embarrassed but no longer so subdued from his battle.

"Thanks." He told her with a slight smile.

"No problem." His friend responded. If she could have, she would have beamed. Any sense of discomfort, like Colby, was impossible to see.

The next few moments passed in silence. Meilikki seemed to want Colby to speak next and Colby just needed to get his thoughts together. After some time, the Rattata looked at his friend.

"Do you think either one of us will get taken along by a trainer?" He asked tentatively.

The Pidgey took a second to think before replying.

"If we keep trying then we must at some point, right?" She said, sounding uncharacteristically uncertain before rallying. "We don't need them to get strong, though! We can train ourselves and become really strong! You'll be a big Raticate and I'll be a scary and powerful Pidgeot! All those trainers will be sorry they never brought us along."

"Why don't we just do that anyway?" Colby asked.

"We can do both!" Meilikki declared. "We will train and try to get a trainer to take us. Maybe we could even travel like they do."

Colby appeared lost in thought.

"Travel." he repeated, staring up into the sky as he pondered what that would be like. Would they meet new Pokémon? Would they be dangerous? What food would they find?

He noticed the sky then, which was growing darker as the sun sank below the trees.

"Oh, no!" he exclaimed. "I should be getting back now."

Meilikki also looked up and gasped.

"Me too! My parents are going to be so mad."

"Bye, Meili! And thanks!" Colby yelled to the Pidgey as she took to the skies.

"Bye Colby." she responded before she soared out of sight.

As the two young Pokémon hurried home, they thought about what they had decided upon. It wouldn't affect them much in the short term but that conversation had set off a series of events that would eventually lead to a challenge that no wild Pokémon had ever even attempted. If this was a good thing, however, remained to be seen.


	2. Chapter 2: Training

It is commonly said that if you see one Rattata, then it is a sure sign that 40 more live nearby. Statements like this are often exaggerations of the truth, but this one could be considered an understatement. None know this to be truer than the Pokémon themselves.

Colby lay still in the spot he had claimed the previous night. He had woken up not long ago but had yet to get up; not due to tiredness, but because the way to the entrance was blocked by his very extended family.

The burrow he was in was much larger than the one that Meilikki found him in a year ago. While that had been made by a very young Colby as a place to escape to if he wanted to be alone, his family's burrow had been dug out by many large Raticate over several generations. Despite this, the living quarters of Colby's family were not exactly spacious. Colby, being the early riser he was, would often find himself trapped in the burrow until some of his larger relatives decided to move.

Eventually, one of them did just that. One of Colby's uncles who had been near the exit stood up and headed out which opened up a path for Colby. Standing, Colby picked his way round the other purple rats that filled the hole. He jumped over some younger cousins, weaved around some of his siblings, flattened himself against the wall to avoid his aunt, climbed over an uncle he knew to be a very deep sleeper and, finally, he reached the entrance where what he thought was a great uncle was keeping watch. After mumbling a greeting to the tough looking Raticate, Colby scurried away from his home and let out a deep breath.

It was mornings like this that he wished he was brave enough to sleep nearer the entrance. Sure, he would be more likely to get attacked during the night but at least he wouldn't be trapped by his slumbering relatives every morning.

As Colby moved, keeping to the tall grass and bushes out of habit, he considered what to do with the day. He and Meilikki had agreed to try and find a trainer around midday but that was still a few hours away. In the meantime, Colby decided that he really needed to do something about his teeth. They were starting to itch which meant that he would need to wear them down by gnawing on something.

Having decided on a course of action, Colby headed to a spot near the hole he had made for himself. Upon reaching the location, he walked up to a log on the ground and bit into it. His sharp little fangs dug in to the already worn bark and he let out a sigh. This activity was always relaxing for Colby and provided a great opportunity to think.

Over the last year, Colby and Meilikki had kept to their decision and made a point of challenging a trainer every few days. At first, this went as expected. The two young and inexperienced Pokémon would get regularly creamed by the passing humans and their strange Pokémon. It had come as a great surprise, therefore, when Colby won his first battle. The opponent hadn't been anything special, a Caterpie with hardly any more experience than him, but Colby still came out on top despite getting battered and covered in webs. Meilikki had been ecstatic for him, despite having beaten similar foes in the past, and had congratulated the stunned Rattata before going off to find some oran berries to help him heal.

Colby smiled around his mouthful of wood. Since that day, the last year had been great. Sure, he still lost much, much more than he won but the two friends had always been about to support each other. They had grown a great deal, but Meilikki had never lost her idealism and neither of them had become sensible enough to stop picking fights they were unlikely to win.

Suddenly, some form of winged demon came screeching down from the heavens. Colby jerked, wincing as one of his fangs failed to come loose from the bark and was yanked painfully. Colby freed his mouth and fell backwards, at which point he desperately tried to get back up, tripped, and flopped into the grass. He looked up to see his attacker and was met by two merciless looking black eyes and a sharp beak.

"Hi Colby!" Chirped Meilikki.

Colby blinked. His heart was beating twice its already fast rate and his small body was quivering like a leaf in an earthquake. However, the fear in his expression quickly faded to be replaced by confusion and then by irritation.

"Meili!" He reprimanded. "I told you not to do that!"

"I know." Meili told him, stepping away to allow Colby to stand back up and regain at least a little dignity. "But you seemed so lost in thought and I just had to."

"I thought you were a Fearow or... Well, just don't do it again." He finished weakly. He had been about to say that he had thought she could have been a Pidgeotto before he realised that that might offend her. Colby knew that the normal flying type really wanted to evolve and didn't want her to think that he had a problem with that. He didn't, after all, object to her wanting to become stronger. It was something he could relate to, although for different reasons, but he still feared Pidgey's evolutions for the predators they were.

Meilikki still looked as if she wanted to burst into giggles at his reaction, but she forced herself to calm down and look apologetic.

"Sorry." She said. "I'll call you before I approach next time."

Colby nodded at that, still shaking slightly as he did so, before he curiously glanced up at the sun.

"So, why are you here?" He asked. "We were going to look for a battle later on, weren't we?"

"Oh, yeah!" Exclaimed Meili. "So, I was looking about for something to eat this morning when guess what I saw?"

"What?"

"Benu got captured!"

"What!" Colby asked, his eyes widening.

"Benu got captured." Meili repeated.

Benu was a Spearow that they ran into on a regular basis. Like most of his kind, the Pokémon was spiteful and quick to anger. Colby and Meili tried to keep away from him, like they did most Spearow, but Benu had seemed to take an obvious disliking to them ever since he learned of their plans to one day go with a trainer and travel across the land. It wasn't even clear why he was mad. Meili seemed to think that he was threatened by their formidable power but Colby, knowing their power to be anything but "formidable," thought that the Spearow just didn't like that they wanted to go with a trainer. It was for this reason that Meili's news came as such a surprise.

"How?" He asked.

"Well, I was looking for something to eat when he saw me and was all like 'You're no good and any member of my flock could beat you.' Then a trainer just burst from the trees and caught us by surprise. I managed to get away because I figured that I shouldn't battle if we were going to train later but she sent out a pink cat thing and it tackled Benu and hit him into a tree and she threw a ball at him and caught him." Meili took in a deep breath. "So I came to find you." She finished.

Colby blinked, his mind took a few seconds to process what Meili had just rattled out to him.

"So, he's going with the trainer now?" He asked. He wasn't sure if he should feel relieved or resentful. On one paw, the unpleasant bird would be out of their lives. But Colby and Meili had spent the better part of the year trying to get a trainer to bring them along with little success. Of all the Pokémon that would get to experience adventure, it didn't seem right for it to be Benu.

"Never mind that." Said Meili impatiently. "We should go and battle the trainer to see if she wants to catch us as well!"

Colby's ears shot up and he froze in place. He and Meili had spent the last year trying to get caught but when faced with the prospect of a trainer that was actually catching Pokémon, he hesitated for some reason. He was not given time to think about this, though, because Meili had taken flight and was calling for him to follow. Colby got down to all fours and darted after the bird, putting his hesitance aside for the moment. He knew that he couldn't let Meili down now.

Soon, they came to an open area of the path that the humans would often use to travel the route. Meili fluttered to the ground and looked about.

"This is where we were earlier." She told him. "I guess she must have moved on. She was going that way though, so we may be able to catch up."

Meili took flight again and Colby continued to follow, running out of breath. The Pidgey flew a bit higher this time so as to see above the trees and, before long, she called down to him that she had seen the trainer. Colby began to make his way to where she was descending. He stopped at a rather large bush. His black nose twitched slightly as he smelt the air and confirmed that some kind of human was on the other side. This was confirmed when he heard Meili screech a challenge and a human voice responded with,

"Oh, another Pidgey!"

Colby looked around his cover to see Meili looking up at a female human. Her black hair was tied back and she was wearing a long green dress that matched the girl's eyes. She looked down at Meili with interest.

Colby spent a second to steel himself for the battle. He knew he couldn't take too long but he always required a second to think before challenging a trainer. Taking a deep breath, he stepped out and stood beside Meili.

"I, umm ... I want to battle to." He told the girl in a much less confrontational manner than Meili had done.

Of course, the trainer couldn't understand what either of them had said but she appeared to get the idea as she reached for the two balls at her belt. As she did this, she pointed a rectangular red device at Colby.

"Rattata: the mouse Pokémon." Said the device in an unnatural cheery voice. "It eats anything. Wherever food is available it will settle down and produce offspring continuously."

Colby shuffled a bit as he was scanned. They were used to this happening at the start of a battle but he never grew used to being reminded about the habit of his species that gave them their reputation as pests. Meili, likewise, would get irritated when she was called "docile" by the device.

"So, a double battle!" enthused the girl once she had finished scanning him. She took both Pokéballs from her belt, expanded them, and threw them out while shouting,

"Go, Esme and Beaky!"

With two flashes of white light, two Pokémon appeared before the friends. The first was an odd pale pink cat-like creature with white tipped ears. It looked about happily upon being released but frowned a little upon noticing them. The second Pokémon, however, was familiar to the friends and appeared even less happy. Beady black eyes glared scathingly down a wicked looking beak from below its untidy plumage.

"Hi, Benu!" Greeted Meili. "Or do you want me to call you Beaky?"

"Shut it!" snapped Benu. "Notice how she didn't even consider going for you?"

"And what does that mean?" Asked Meili, her eyes narrowing at her fellow bird.

Before Benu could answer, the pink cat, that Colby guessed was Esme, interrupted.

"You know each other?" She asked a little disapprovingly.

"Don't interrupt, _Espurr_." Said Benu, spitting what must have been the Pokemon's species as if it were an insult.

"You two ready to go?" The trainer asked before pointing at Meili. "Esme, go for the Pidgey. Try a Confusion. Beaky, you … Well, yeah. Do that I guess."

She cut herself off because, upon realising which one he would be fighting, Benu launched himself at Colby. The Rattata was taken by surprise at first but, unlike earlier, he managed to stay on his feet. Colby darted to the side to avoid Benu's beak and used the opening to get in a Tackle. This caused the Spearow to stumble before he landed a Peck on Colby's back, completely ignoring his trainers yell to use Growl. Taking a step back, Colby whipped his tail about in an attempt to cause the Spearow to focus on that before he jumped forward and bit down on one of Benu's wings.

"Get off, rodent!" Benu growled as he thrashed about. It was said with such venom that the trainer called out praise for Benu apparently following her earlier order.

After a few desperate shakes, Benu shifted and drove his beak in to Colby's head. The Rattata let go with a gasp of pain and a Tackle from his adversary sent him sprawling.

Colby looked up. Benu was already above him. His eyes glinted maliciously as he prepared a final Peck to finish off Colby.

"Nope!" called a voice and the Spearow was bowled aside by a ball of brown feathers and claws.

"You get the pink one!" Meili called out to him as the two birds took to the sky to continue the battle.

"I threw sand in her eyes so you should be fine!"

Colby picked himself up and turned to his new adversary. He was about to launch into a Tackle or something when he saw the unpleasant leer she was shooting him. The Rattata hesitated, slightly intimidated by the pink kitten.

"Great going, Esme! You lowered its defence!" The trainer celebrated and, before Colby could do more than blink in shock, the Espurr's pink eyes had started to glow in tandem with two rings under her ears. A second later, an odd pulse of energy struck Colby, knocking him back and leaving him slightly dazed, as if the attack had jumbled his thoughts. The attack hurt, but not as much as Benu's Pecks had. The feeling of confusion died away quickly.

Colby jumped forward in a Tackle. The Espurr gave a squeak of surprise when she was knocked to the floor. After Colby delivered a bite to her arm, she went limp and did not get up.

"Esme!" The trainer yelled. She rushed up to them and picked up her Pokémon. Are you okay?"

After checking Esme over, she returned her and turned her attention to the dueling birds.

Colby, meanwhile, was left blinking in shock. He had taken down the Espurr with just a Tackle. He could only guess that it wasn't too strong and that Meili had managed to get in some good hits in during their fight because otherwise he would probably have been defeated by one or two of those pulses.

A pained squawk pulled Colby back to the real world. Looking up, he saw that Meili had clamped on to Benu's plumage with her beak. The Spearow jerked about wildly, trying to dislodge her but Meili stubbornly clung on causing the two to lose height as neither could properly stay airborne.

Benu's trainer also appeared to notice this. She watched the two flying types in distress before she took one of the balls from her belt and pointed it at the birds.

"Beaky, return!" She called out and Benu vanished with a flash of red and a cry of protest.

As Meili landed, Colby ran up to her. The Pidgey looked as if she had endured a much harder time with Benu than Colby had with Esme. Her feathers appeared ruffled and a few were even strewn about the path below where she had battled. A couple of cuts were bleeding slightly and she seemed a little unsteady on her feet. Despite this, she stared up at the trainer with a smug and triumphant look in her eyes.

Colby nervously looked up at the girl as well. She had placed the balls of her Pokémon back on her belt and was now looking at the two of them, clenching her jaw. She took a step back but then stopped, her hand drifting towards her bag before she shook her head. Turning on her heel, she hurriedly retreated along the path, glancing back at them occasionally to make sure they wouldn't attack her.

"Oh, come on!" Groaned Meili, scraping a foot along the ground in frustration. "We beat both her Pokémon. Why wouldn't she even try to catch one of us? She could have just thrown a ball and **POOF**!"

Colby didn't respond. He was looking at the retreating trainer sorrowfully. This had happened multiple times in the last year but it never stopped making him feel as if he was unworthy. Perhaps noticing this, Meili turned to him and exclaimed,

"Anyway, wasn't that a great battle?"

"I guess?" Colby responded, shuffling a little.

"You guess? It was great! You did a real number on Benu before I got to him and I assume you beat pinky as well!

I don't know about you, but I just feel so energised right now as if …"

Meili cut herself off. It wasn't hard to see why, though. An intense white glow had engulfed her body. As Colby stepped away in alarm and fear, she appeared to grow within the light. It was hard to make out, but her beak grew longer and fresh new feathers sprouted on her head. Soon enough, the glow faded and Colby could see his friend.

She stood on deadly looking clawed feat that led to a mostly brown and cream body. She had gained knew tail feathers that alternated from vivid yellow to blood red. Similar pink feathers framed a face that sported a cruel looking beak that looked as if it could stab right through him. Angular black markings made her eyes sharp and predatory.

Colby gulped and took a second step back. Meilikki had evolved into a Pidgeotto.


	3. Chapter 3: Instincts

Colby felt conflicted. As he gazed upon Meili's new appearance, he knew in his mind that he should feel happy for his friend. She had wanted – had been aiming – for this for the last year. However, his eyes seemed to naturally focus on her new talons, specifically designed to carry away Pokémon like him, and her beak which, if turned against something of his size, could do serious damage. He tried telling himself that this was his friend, that Meili would never hurt him after all they had been through. His instincts still screamed at him to get away.

Meili, meanwhile, did not seem to notice her friend's reaction, she was checking her new appearance. She shook her new tail feathers slightly, brought a wing up to check the plumage on her head and clicked her beak, an action that made Colby jump. Meili hopped off the ground and began to circle around in the air.

"Yeah!" She called out for all to hear. "I evolved! They doubted me, but I did it! Meilikki the Pidgeotto, you hear me? Take that, Benu! Colby, isn't this fantastic?"

Meili looked down at the Rattata, who had subconsciously shrunk to the ground at the sight of the raptor-like bird circling overhead.

"Colby?" She asked. "You okay there?"

"What? Oh, yeah." Said Colby as the Pidgeotto came to land before him once more. "Um... Well done, Meili. I knew it would happen."

"Thanks!" She responded. She seemed a little confused at the slight shake in Colby's voice, but took his words for what they were. "So, what do you think of the new look?"

"Me?" Colby asked, startled by the question. His eyes focused on her talons before he looked back up to her eyes and then glanced away. "Uh, well... You look a lot stronger? I think you look a lot more, um, graceful like this?"

"Aww!" Meili exclaimed and, before Colby could do little more than widen his eyes in fear, she had moved towards him and wrapped a wing around him. Usually, this action would make the Rattata somewhat uncomfortable. This held true now as he felt his face growing rather hot beneath his lavender fur. However, this feeling was overshadowed by his instincts which were now demanding louder than ever that he just get away from the predator invading his personal space. Pushing away from Meili's embrace, Colby took a deep breath before turning to the confusing Pidgeotto and asking:

"So, should we go see what you can do?"

Meili gave him another odd look but never the less responded "Sure, let's go."

The two moved into the trees again, not wanting to be interrupted by another trainer until Meili had grown accustomed to her new form. Once they reached the small clearing where they usually trained, Meili began to test out what she could do as a Pidgeotto.

She began by flying in circles once more, which put Colby a little on edge. Soon, she was going at what appeared her top speed and had risen higher than the trees around them and was just enjoying flying. She changed directions as quick as she could, rolled in the sky and swerved through the air before she shot upwards with a whoop of joy. Colby smiled. That was definitely Meili. She may have changed in appearance, but at this distance the differences were harder to make out. Colby could appreciate that this was still his childhood friend. He would get used to this change, for both their sakes.

Colby was snapped out of his thoughts when Meili came swooping down towards the ground again. He gasped and stepped away from where she was going to land.

"That was amazing!" She shouted, causing a couple of Sentret that had been lurking in the tall grass to dart further into the woods.

"It looked cool." replied Colby, still rather distracted.

"I'll have to bring you at some point!" Meili offered. "You'll love it! I could probably carry you now."

"What! Umm, I'm fine thanks." Colby took a few steps back. This was where he drew the line. He needed some time to go think. "I think I should go now."

"You do?" Asked Meili. "But we were going to train more."

Colby swallowed.

"Well, I need to go do something." He insisted. "We can train tomorrow, though?" He offered. Colby only stuck around long enough for her to give him a perplexed nod before he, like the Sentret, rushed off into the forest.

Once he was a good distance away, Colby stopped and took cover under a bush. He knew that he shouldn't have left Meili like that. This wasn't his friend's fault, after all, and it was something he was a little ashamed of. Did this make him a bad friend?

Colby resolved that he would have to solve this problem, and fast. He could only think of one Pokémon that could give him some advice and so, with a determined look in his eyes, he headed home.

Meili was left staring after her friend as he went home, moving at a curiously fast pace He had been acting odd since their battle and she had no clue what it could be. Well, to be honest, there were several possibilities. The Rattata could be rather fickle with his emotions. While he had improved over the last year, Colby could still get upset or frightened by seemingly the strangest things. She guessed that this had something to do with the jumpy nature of the species.

Meili let out a sigh. She was sure that Colby would sort through his problem soon enough, but it was a little disheartening to just be left.

Deciding that she should probably tell the rest of her flock about her evolution, Meili took off. She took a moment to relish the feel of flight. She never grew tired of the feeling. It made her feel free – as if the world opened up to her the moment she left the land behind. She could never stay grounded for long.

Her mood could rapidly go from cheery and playful to moody and even irritable.

Her new form only made the experience all the more enjoyable. She found that she had a much greater level of control over her flight and she could travel a lot faster than before. The world appeared much clearer now, she could pick out tiny details on the ground below with an accuracy that she had never before experienced. Meili was so glad she evolved.

Soon she came to the trees where her flock nested. Meili headed towards one group in particular. Once she was close enough she called out,

"Guess what, bird brains?"

"You know that insult includes yourse... What!" One of the Pidgey had turned at the sound of her voice but his sentence trailed off as he caught sight of her.

"You evolved?" Asked another Pidgey, this one female.

Meili did an aileron roll in midair before she came to land in a branch where she could be clearly seen. Sure she was showing off, but she really didn't care.

"Sure did." She confirmed. "Not long ago."

"What caused it then?" Asked the first Pidgey.

"Colby and I battled a trainer earlier and we won. Safe to say, it was awesome!"

"Colby's that rat, right?" Asked a Pidgeotto a little further away.

"Yes he is, Corbett." Meili confirmed, eyeing her fellow bird suspiciously.

"I guess he must have been surprised." Said Corbett, fluttering to a new branch slightly closer to where Meili was perched.

"Huh? Well, he wasn't expecting it. I guess it surprised him."

"Definitely." Agreed Corbett. "To have your friend suddenly become one of your main predators must be a shock."

Meili froze, her eyes widening.

"I didn't think of that!" She exclaimed, hitting herself in the face with a wing. "He was acting strangely before he left!"

"And your only realising this now?" Asked the other Pidgeotto with a note of disbelief. "I'm surprised that you didn't immediately start viewing him as prey. I know when I evolved I suddenly had no problem with attacking Rattata."

Meili blinked at him.

"Well, I didn't feel that at all. Is that normal?"

Corbett just shrugged.

"Don't know. All I know is that your weird friendship with that rat might be over. He's going to fear you instinctively now."

"Just because you don't like him." Meili snapped at the bird, his attitude finally starting to irritate her.

"It's not that I don't like him; it's just that I view him as food and so should you."

"Well, I don't. Colby's a friend. It would be betraying him to hunt Rattata now."

"So, um... How will you eat?" Asked the first female Pidgey.

Meili was about to respond before she realised she didn't have an answer. Pidgeotto mostly survived on bug type Pokémon and, of course, Rattata. Bug types, however, did not live on route 1. If she wanted to continue living where she was she would have to find some new form of food.

"I don't know." She finally admitted. This whole evolution thing was proving to be more trouble than she had expected.

Colby entered his family's den. The hole was much less crowded than it had been this morning as a great a deal of the Rattata and Raticate had left for the day. He wasn't even sure if the Raticate he was looking for would be here but he figured it was a good place to start.

He glanced about, noticing a few of the more nocturnal rats were sleeping further in. Some of the younger ones were being looked over by their mothers, he didn't see who he was looking for. To be honest, this didn't come as a surprise. The one he was looking for wouldn't be far off, though.

Just as Colby began to turn away, three of his younger siblings came rushing up to him, with his mother trailing behind. "Hello Colby." She greeted as the three Rattata, two male and one female, began to chatter at him excitedly.

"Hi, Mum!" Colby replied before getting on all fours so as to greet the pups properly.

"Hello you three as well." He said.

"Did you battle another trainer today, Colby?" Asked Yolanda, the lone girl of the group.

"How did you know?" Asked Colby, a little confused.

"Because you look all beaten up!" Said Nico, a little too enthusiastically.

"What happened?" Asked the third Rattata, Remy.

"Did you win?" Yolanda added.

Colby told them the story of the day while their mother looked on at her children in amusement. The three younger Rattata continuously interrupted their brother to ask questions; Colby was more than happy to answer. He never really thought that his and Meili's hobby was that interesting, but his three youngest siblings always wanted to hear details. He found their excitement at the exploits to be endearing. The trio reminded him a little of himself and Meili when they first decided to begin trying to get captured, albeit a little younger.

"So, then the trainer returned Benu and ran off!" Colby finished. He had considered continuing a little further to include Meili's surprise evolution but decided against it at the last minute. Learning that their brother's friend was now one of the creatures they had been repeatedly told to stay away from could scare the pups, after all.

"Wow!" Enthused Nico. "You're really strong!"

Colby shuffled a little at the praise.

"I'm not that strong."

Remy's eyes widened at this.

"But you beat the Espurr!" He pointed out.

"I think Meili did most of the work there." He admitted, waving a paw dismissively.

"Don't sell yourself short." Came a new voice from just outside the burrow. The four Rattata and their mother turned in time to see a new Raticate entering the den. However, this Raticate was different from regular Raticate. His fur was black and cream, as opposed to the fawn fur of most the others. He had a tan patch on his stomach and appeared heavier than a normal Raticate as well. Last of all, he walked on his hind legs whereas most Rattata and Raticate would only stand this way when stationary.

"Daddy!" Chorused the pups while Colby waved, smiling at his father's words.

The Alolan Raticate smiled down Colby.

"It sounds like you did a great job there. I wish I could have seen it myself."

"Thanks Dad." Said Colby. His father was probably a little biased, but praise for one's battling prowess still meant a lot. After all, the Colby's father had been part of a team that had taken on something called an island challenge in his home region. He would often tell his children stories of the Pokémon he met along the way and the many battles they had faced. The Raticate, who was called Splinter by his trainer, was one of the main reasons that Colby wished to go on a journey of his own one day.

"By the way, I need to talk to you." Colby told his father.

"Sure." He responded before turning to the three younger Rattata. "You three go outside with your mother for a bit, okay?" He requested, giving his mate a look to which she nodded in understanding and ushered them outside. The pups promptly started some kind of game and Splinter turned back to his son.

"What is it?"

Colby took in a breath and asked, "You know you said you had some kind of dragon on your team back in Alola?"

"Sure." His father responded, nodding. "His name was Mushu and he was a Salamence. Probably one of the friendliest Pokémon I ever met." He reminisced.

"Well, you said that at first you were afraid of him?"

Splinter blinked.

"Well, yes. He was, after all, a dragon and a rather large one at that. If he was wild then he could have probably hunted fully grown Raticate. Why do you ask?"

Colby flicked his tail uncomfortably.

"Meili evolved earlier today, just after the battle. She was really happy and I guess I'm happy for her but I... Well..."

"You feel instinctively afraid." Splinter cut him off and Colby looked to the floor of the burrow.

"Yes." He admitted. "I shouldn't but I just look at her and see a predator."

"I understand." His father reassured. "I had the same problem with Mushu. I found eventually that the problem was that I saw the Pokémon before I saw my friend. You already understand that she is the same Pokémon, right? So, you just need to see that before you take in her species."

"I don't know if I can just do that, though. I was getting jumpy at everything she did."

The Raticate put a reassuring paw on his son's head.

"It will come with time. Maybe you should talk with her about this? Mushu was easy to adapt to since he was so friendly and understanding. You might want to ask her to meet you half-way. Maybe just ask that she respect your personal space more. The two of you are very good friends though so I think it will be fine." At this last line, he threw his son a knowing wink, causing Colby's face to heat up. His father had always been more accepting of him and Meili's friendship than the others because of his history as a trained Pokémon.

"Thanks, Dad." he said. "I'll bring it up with her. I just hope she won't get offended."

"It will be fine." Splinter assured him before he headed further into the burrow, gesturing for Colby to follow. "Now, let's get you an oran berry to help with those cuts."

As Colby followed his father, he thought about what he would say the next day. He really didn't want to offend or upset the Pidgeotto.


	4. Chapter 4: A crazy idea

It was the next day and Colby had returned to the spot where he usually met up with Meili. He had promised to meet Meili today and, while he failed to mention when or where in his haste, he hoped that she would turn up at this spot sooner or later.

Colby had spent the previous evening and most of the morning thinking about how to broach the topic of his fear. He had managed to work himself up into a small panic. He knew that he was worrying too much, but his mind kept conjuring images of Meili getting angry or upset or, and this was probably the most ridiculous, her deciding that she should attack him because she was now a Pidgeotto.

Colby turned when he heard rustling behind him but found nothing.

"Colby?" A voice called. He looked up and there was Meili.

"Hello." He greeted her, glad that she had not jumped out at him. He would have probably had a panic attack.

Meili hopped from her branch and fluttered to the ground to speak with him better.

Neither spoke for a few moments. Colby realised that if he was going to talk to his friend then now would be the time to do so. He waved his curled tail nervously behind him before he took in a deep breath. But he was cut off before he had the chance to utter a word, Meili spoke instead.

"I think I need to apologise," She told him. Colby blinked, not expecting that. He thought back over the last few days but couldn't think of anything she had done that could warrant an apology. The only problem that had come up had to do with him. Perhaps she thought he was upset that she had evolved before him, but Rattata evolved a bit later on in life anyway.

"What for?" He asked, thoroughly stumped.

"I think I was scaring you yesterday." She explained. "I had just evolved and I was just so happy that I didn't realise that I was now a Pidgeotto and of course you're a Rattata. I just didn't think … and then you started acting strangely and when I mentioned it to some of the others they pointed out that I'm now a predator so, I'm sorry." She scraped the ground with her talons in an uncharacteristic display of embarrassment. "I promise I won't eat you." She finished lamely.

Colby's mouth hung open for a few seconds before he quickly closed it with a click of his oversized teeth. Of all the ways he had pictured this conversation going, this had not even occurred to him. Meili could be a little oblivious to how others were feeling, unless it was made blatantly obvious. That being said, he guessed that he hadn't exactly been subtle in his discomfort.

"Thanks for understanding." He told her sincerely. "I had planned on bringing it up with you today. I don't think you need to apologise though. It's really my problem."

Meili shook her head emphatically.

"No, I should have realised."

"But I should have known that you're still the same Pokémon." Colby insisted.

"Tell you what. We're not going to agree on this. It won't be a problem for long, anyway."

"It might take some time for me to get used to it." Colby admitted but the flying type just shook her head.

"I don't mean it like that. It won't be a problem because I'm going to be leaving soon."

This revelation came as an even greater shock than her apology.

"What!" He exclaimed, Meili just sighed.

"I can't live here now that I'm a Pidgeotto. There are no bug Pokémon to eat and I can't survive on just berries like I did before."

"But other Pidgeotto live here." Colby pointed out. "Why couldn't you just eat what they ... Oh." Colby trailed off, realising what exactly those Pidgeotto survived on.

"Exactly," said meili. "I'm not going to eat your species. That would be betraying your trust. I hear there's this forest not far off with tons of bugs. I'll probably head there later today."

Hearing this, Colby's ears drooped. He couldn't help but feel a little responsible for the Pidgeotto's departure. After all, if it wasn't for him then Meili could eat whatever she liked and … Colby didn't like where that train of thought was headed. Still though, he felt bad for his friend. She had grown up in this area, after all.

"Is there nothing else you can do?" He asked and Meili just shook her head.

"I guess I could come and visit, though." She told him in an attempt to cheer him up. "I can fly quite fast now, after all. I can probably come visit every other day if I try, although it will more likely be every few days."

This news managed to raise Colby's spirits slightly. It wasn't as if she was going for good. Things would just be slightly different, that's all. What concerned him now was Meili getting captured in her new home. The two would always challenge trainers at the same time in the hope that the trainer would want both of them. It wasn't a foolproof idea but with Meili suddenly in a new area the chances of her going on a journey without him rose drastically.

Or did they? Colby began to entertain a new idea. It was probably mad, like something that Meili would come up with, but it stuck around, nagging at him.

"Could I come with you?" Colby asked, breaking the silence that formed between the two of them. Meili seemed taken aback by the question.

"I … I guess you could. I don't see why you would want to, though. "The forest is rather dangerous and your family is here."

"Well..." The Rattata began, not quite believing what he was about to suggest. "We've always said we would go on a journey, even if a trainer doesn't want us. Well, now could be the best time to start. You're evolved now, after all."

Meili stared at him for a few moments before she began to laugh.

"Yes! I can't believe that you would be the one to point it out but it's a great idea! No trainers seem to want two common Pokémon like us, so let's just do it." Meili appeared about to hug him before she thought against the idea and spread out her wings in happiness instead. "It will be just like what we planned."

Colby smiled, glad that she had taken it so well, but now also growing nervous. The plan had become suddenly very real.

"This will also be on our own terms." He pointed out. "We won't be owned by a human and we can prepare."

Meili just nodded, her plumage swaying as she did.

"I can't believe that we're really considering this." She told him. "It seems crazy. I guess I thought it would never happen. When should we leave, though?"

"I don't know. You said you were going later today but that might be a little too soon."

"It gives less time to wimp out."

This was very true. Colby knew that after a few days he would probably manage to talk himself out of the idea. Perhaps that wouldn't be a bad thing, but he would never know unless he left.

"Yeah. A few days is too long. How about tomorrow morning?"

Meili nodded again.

"Let's do this."

A few hours later, Colby was gnawing on a log near his family's burrow. He needed to tell them that he was leaving at some point. It was just a matter of when to do so. He wasn't sure how they would react. Rattata had, of course, been captured before and some Raticate had left the area voluntarily. However, he was still rather young, not even having evolved, and would be going with a creature that would normally be considered a threat. They couldn't technically stop him, but he would rather leave on good terms with the family. Colby wasn't even sure if he could bring himself to go, if they objected.

He decided he would need to talk with his father again. The Alolan Raticate always had good advice. Detaching his sharp teeth from the log, Colby set off in search of his father.

He found Splinter quickly. He seemed to have had a similar plan as his son, he was currently biting a large rock. Well, to call it biting was like calling a Pidgeot's Hurricane a gust of wind. The Alolan form was practicing his Hyper Fang attack, his fangs glowing white as they bit down on the stone. As Colby watched in awe, a section of the rock broke off and the Raticate dropped it near some other fragments next to him.

It was at this point that Splinter noticed his son.

"You alright there, Colby?" He asked, gesturing for him to come over.

"Hello Dad." Colby greeted as he slipped from the grass. "Can I talk with you for a moment?"

"Always." Said his father with a smile. "Let's head back home, though."

Splinter set off and Colby followed not far behind. He didn't bother keeping under cover since nothing was likely to attack when his father was about.

"I spoke with Meili again earlier."

"Oh, went okay I trust?"

"Yes, actually. She had already figured it out."

Splinter chuckled.

"I'm not surprised." He told his son. "She's always been a good friend to you."

"Yeah." Colby agreed. "However, that isn't what I wanted to talk about."

Colby swallowed, "You see, Meili and I are thinking of leaving. As in, going on a journey. She was going to some forest because there are no bug types for her to eat here and I suggested that we leave together to explore the world."

For a moment, Colby was sure that he saw his father's features take on a dejected look but it was replaced by his usual reassuring smile so quickly that he was almost convinced he had imagined it. Almost. He knew his father well, after all.

"Are you sure about this?" Splinter asked, pulling himself over a fallen tree. "It won't be easy, especially without a trainer.".

"I think it's now or never." Colby told him, jumping on top of the log and back down the other side to rejoin his father. Once he was over, he continued. "We want to travel together. It was never confirmed that we would get captured by the same trainer but if she moves away then it is very unlikely it will ever happen. This way, we have some control over our future."

"In that case, I guess you should do it. It won't be easy to see you go. We'll all miss you, you know?"

Colby nodded.

"I'll miss you to." He whispered. "But I feel I should do this."

"It will be worth it." Splinter told him. "I learnt so much back in Alola. When I was captured I was a spiteful little thing. I was violent, sly, uncaring, and all those classic dark type things. Kekoa and his team broke me out of those habits soon enough though. Once Kekoa became an island challenge champion, I was a completely different Pokémon from who I had been, and not just because I evolved."

Colby listened in fascination. He never grew weary of hearing of his father's adventures.

"How's it different from being wild?" He asked.

"Well, it's safer for one thing. You can be returned to the Pokéball at any point and your food is just carried about by your trainer. You also have 5 other Pokémon to take on anything that you can't battle yourself. Tinkerbell, for example, could take on any fighting types that I couldn't battle. She was the Ribombee, by the way. Kekoa gave all of us rather strange names. He never explained how he came up with them either.

"Anyway, you also get to take advantage of what the humans have made. You know about Pokéballs but they also have potions and revives that patch you up after a battle and in the cities they have things called Pokémon Centres that can bring you back up to full health in a matter of seconds.

"You can also battle more because when you're wild you lose a fight and you have to heal for a day or two if you survive."

"I wish I could have gone with a trainer." Colby admitted. "It sounds like it would have been more fun rather than just me and Meili."

Splinter nodded, "I think it will be different, for sure. However, that might be good."

The two of them had now reached the family burrow. Splinter came to rest against the tree that stood over the entrance and Colby settled beside him.

"How might it be better?" Colby asked.

"To tell you the truth, being with a trainer could be a little stifling. Don't get me wrong, I loved Kekoa. We all did, but it felt as if we were just being guided down a set path that had been pre-determined. What I mean is that it didn't feel like an adventure at points. I don't know what you plan to do with Meili but it will actually feel like exploring.

What do you plan on doing, by the way?"

"I don't know." Replied Colby in surprise, only just having realised this. "What do the humans do?"

Splinter rested his chin in one paw as he thought.

"I don't entirely know to be honest. It works differently here and we hadn't really started by the time I met your mother and was released. I know there are 8 places they call gyms and that you battle them but not much more. Are you thinking of doing that?"

"Maybe?" Said Colby. "We don't have a trainer but it might still work. I guess that me and Meili will have to talk about it."

"Well, I suppose that doesn't matter much for now. What you should be thinking about is when you're going to tell the rest of the family."

Colby winced.

"It should probably be soon, I suppose. We're planning on leaving tomorrow morning. I don't know how I am going to tell them, though."

"Perhaps you should go talk with your great grandmother about it."

Colby didn't like the sound of that. His great grandmother was the lone head of the family and the oldest. All of the Rattata and Raticate that weren't mates were descended from her and Colby's now deceased great grandfather. She intimidated most of the family. This wasn't because she was aggressive or anything, but a sense of importance and power seemed to emanate from the very old Raticate. Despite this, Colby knew his father was right. His great grandmother should know, and then he could tell everyone else.

"I'll go now." Colby told his father before padding into the burrow. As Colby made his way further in, he passed fewer and fewer family members. The light also began to drop as the sunlight could not reach this far into the hole. Colby found himself thankful for his species' excellent night vision.

Eventually, Colby came to a turning at the end of the burrow. He took a second to collect himself and then stepped around.

The first thing he was met by was two glowing white eyes. He then made out the rest of the Pokémon. The thin and greying fur, the toe missing from one foot, the tear in one ear and the tail that was even more thin and boney than those of the rest of her species made it clear this was his great grandmother, Griselda.

"Young Colby?" She said. "For what do I owe this visit?"

Colby looked to the ground.

"I have come to tell you that I am leaving soon."

He chanced a glance up to see that the Raticate was looking at him with interest. However, she didn't appear to be surprised.

"I suppose that you and that bird friend of yours have decided to go on an adventure?" She asked and, at seeing Colby's nod, continued, "If that's what you want to do. I trust you know it will not be easy?"

"I do." said Colby. "We just feel that we need to do this."

"If that's what you want, then I will not stand in your way. I will, however, insist that you tell the rest of the family tonight. It doesn't matter when you're leaving, they should all know as soon as possible and you will be the one to tell them."

Colby's eyes widened at that. He hadn't known how he would tell his family about his decision but making an announcement had not been an idea he had liked the sound of.

He was about to protest but the words died at the look that Griselda gave him. It wasn't angry, but she was definitely leaving no room for disagreement. This was something he had to do himself if he was going to leave.

Colby took a breath before voicing his agreement:

"Yes, Great Grandmother."


	5. Chapter 5: Departure

Later that evening, most of the Rattata and Raticate had returned to the family burrow, causing the normally spacious den to become rather crowded.

Colby had spent last few hours finding and telling his closest family members about his plan, figuring they should be the first to know. First, he had told his mother who had been easy to find because she was looking over his youngest siblings: Yolanda, Remy and Nico. She reacted like his father had, supporting her son's decision and, although she didn't say it outright, happy that the normally nervous Colby had mustered the courage to decide on this. The three pups had protested, of course, trying to convince their brother to stay, but accepted Colby's promise to one day return and tell them his stories. His other 22 siblings, on the other hand, had proven hard for Colby to find and by the time it was getting dark he had still failed to find five. Now he was looking about for them amongst the mass of rats around him.

"Are you ready to tell them now?" Asked a hoarse voice next to him.

"Huh? Oh, um, I guess so." he replied, looking down timidly at the sight of the elderly Raticate, Griselda had managed to approach without Colby noticing.

"Very well." Said Griselda before turning to a nearby Rattata. "Willrow? I think that some of the family is still outside. Could you go tell them I want them in here?"

The Rattata nodded and scurried out. A few minutes later, Colby's entire family had crowded in.

Colby knew his family was large, as was the norm for his species, but he had never truly appreciated how large until he was about to make an announcement to them. He was sure that he hadn't even spoken to some of the present rats and he didn't even know how exactly he was related to some of them. He was also sure that some of them had only the vaguest understanding of who he was.

"Your attention please?" Called out Griselda, her voice easily cutting through conversations despite her age. "Young Colby here has something he needs to say."

The chatter in the dark burrow died down and dozens of glowing red and white eyes turned in their direction. Feeling a paw pushing him forward, Colby stepped away from the dirt wall and cleared his throat. He took a deep breath, let it out, took in another, shuffled his feet, glanced around, opened his mouth, closed it again, and finally decided to just get on with it.

"I am going to be leaving tomorrow."

This announcement was met with a mixed reaction. Some looked shocked, others intrigued. A few looked somewhat insulted and a few looked as if they really couldn't care less what he did.

"I plan on going with a friend to travel around the region." He continued before stopping, realising he wasn't sure how to continue. Luckily, or possibly unluckily, one of the gathered Raticate decided to speak up:

"I guess you're going with that Pidgey?"

"Yes." confirmed Colby, surprised that his friendship with Meili was so well known. "She evolved recently and we decided that now would be the best time to start."

"She evolved?" Asked the Raticate, who Colby thought might have been called Dagbert. "So you're going with a Pidgeotto."

This realisation caused more surprise than the news that Colby would be leaving. Some family members shot him concerned glances while some frowned disapprovingly.

Colby swallowed. This wasn't going as smoothly as he had hoped.

"We're leaving now because she would have had to go anyway. She doesn't want to prey on Rattata after being friends with me." He explained, fiddling with the end of his tail nervously.

"And you're sure about this?" Asked Dagbert, but before Colby could respond, Splinter spoke up.

"I trust my son's judgement on this, Dagbert."

"Well, I just think he's being reckless, is all. She's a predator. Hunting is in her instinct."

It was at this point that Griselda decided to speak up.

"I understand your suspicion, Dagbert, but this is young Colby's choice. We cannot stop him."

This appeared to settle the matter. Colby realised that the announcement was over as the rats turned their attention to other matters. He allowed himself to relax slightly.

Colby saw his parents approaching from the corner of his eye and rushed to meet them halfway. When he reached them his mother, Pandora, moved to her hind legs and wrapped her front paws around him in a hug which he gladly returned.

"Good job, Colby." She congratulated him as she stepped away. "I could tell that wasn't easy for you."

"Thanks, Mum."

"Don't worry about Dagbert. You know how he can be."

To be honest, Colby didn't know how Dagbert could be. But was able to guess from how today had gone.

"So, what's your plan for tomorrow?" Asked his father.

"We are going to leave in the morning." He told them. "I'll probably wake up early, say goodbye, and then get going.

"In that case, you should probably be getting some sleep now."

Colby glanced about, realising many of the Rattata were already doing just that.

"Yeah." He agreed. "I'll see you tomorrow morning then," and with that he went to claim a good spot to sleep.

The next morning, Colby woke up early, as usual, and was surprised to find he was not the first awake for a change. He sat up, glancing about in confusion at the Rattata and Raticate who were milling about. He began to wonder if maybe he had slept in but a look at the sun outside confirmed that most of his family had woke up earlier than usual.

"Colby, you're awake!" Called a high-pitched voice and he was suddenly tackled by three small forms.

"Dad says you're going soon so most of us got up early to say bye!" said Nico.

"They didn't need to do that." said Colby, a little embarrassed.

"But they all wanted to say goodbye." Yolanda told him.

"Well, most of them did." Chimed in a new voice. Looking over, Colby saw Florry, his eldest sister, approaching. His other siblings crowded behind her

"Of course, Dagbert and some others didn't, but Griselda wanted you to get a good send off." Explained a brother, Hendrick.

This news came as a surprise to Colby.

"She did?" He asked, not really having expected the elderly and rather strict Raticate to do something like that.

"Well, it's not every day that one of us decides to go on some crazy journey with a Pokémon that would normally eat you." Replied Hendrick with a shrug.

"I can't believe you're actually going to do this!" Exclaimed Christel, one of his younger sisters. "You're, like, the last one I would have expected."

"I mean, he does voluntarily get beaten up by trainers on a regular basis." Pointed out Florry. "Either he's always been insane or all those battles messed up his head."

The three pups still gathered around Colby giggled at this.

"Mum and Dad are outside, by the way." piped up yet another sibling, this one a younger brother named Rembrandt.

"Oh, thanks. I should probably go see them, then."

Florry nodded.

"We were sent to get you. So, yes."

The group of Rattata and a few Raticate streamed out of the burrow and Colby found that a large number of his family was already present. He quickly spotted his parents, his father's black fur easy to locate amongst the mass of purple and tan, and made his way toward them. Along the way, he was stopped several times to be told goodbye and good luck.

"Colby!" Called his mother upon noticing him. "Griselda has prepared a farewell for you."

"Yeah, I heard." He glanced up at the sun's position in the sky. "I suppose I should start saying goodbye now, then."

"Probably." Splinter agreed, looking around at how many Rattata and Raticate were gathered. Any passing human would have just assumed they had all smelt food in this spot. Colby wondered how they would react if they were to learn that they were seeing off one of their own on a Pokémon journey.

The next half an hour or so was spent bidding the others farewell. There were hugs, tears and paw shakes. Some wished him luck while others offered advice for battling and surviving. It was a rather intense time for the normally reclusive Colby. Eventually, however, all had been said and done and Griselda came to speak in front of the others.

"Are you ready to leave now, Colby?"

"Yes." He responded, his voice a little shaky but determined.

"In that case, we all wish you luck and hope you will return to us one day."

Colby swallowed. He was sure it hadn't been her intention, but that last statement had sounded rather ominous.

"Thank you. I will." and with that, Colby waved to the assembly and began to walk away. As he did so, he heard last minute farewells called out.

"We're proud of you!"

"Take care!"

"Don't get eaten!"

With one last smile back where he had grown up, Colby scurried into the forest.

After a while, Colby came to a stop. The reality of the situation was hitting him. He had left home. He and Meili would be going on an adventure. It was terrifying and yet Colby couldn't keep a small smile from spreading across his face.

"Well, that was quite the performance." Said a voice above him. Colby looked up to see Meili looking down at him from a branch, her eyes creased in an amused smile.

"My flock just gives me a couple good lucks and a few 'I think you're stupid's – you said goodbye for what felt like hours!"

"You were watching?" He asked the Pidgeotto as she flew to the ground.

"From afar. Figured I shouldn't get too close, for obvious reasons."

Colby nodded.

"I think that was a good idea. A few of them don't like the idea of me traveling with … well … with you."

"That's what I thought. First, I get you beaten up every few days and now I'm evolved and dragging you on some quest to do something or other."

"That about sums it up." Colby laughed. "But what exactly is the plan?"

"I have no clue." Meilikki admitted.

"Well..." Colby began. "I asked my dad and he said that humans do something called a gym challenge."

"Oooh, sounds interesting. Do you know what it is?"

"Apparently, you go to different places and it involves battling. I think it's more of a trainer thing, though."

"So? We're trainers. We just train ourselves."

"I mean, I guess so?" The Rattata responded. "I still don't know if we could do it without a human."

Meilikki took off.

"Well, it's somewhere to start. We should head to a human community and see what we can find."

Colby scampered after her, keeping a little behind and out of sight.

"What human community?" He asked.

"The trainers that pass through here are always heading between these two areas with massive things that the humans live in. One is much busier than the other and the trainers always seem to go to that one. That, Colby, is where we will start our adventure!"

AN

So ends the first arc of the story. Well, it wasn't really an arc. More of an intro than anything.

Anyway, I'm probably going to leave author's notes every few chapters. I just don't feel the need to do them every chapter. Maybe also to reply to guest reviews.

Anyway, this chapter has been the hardest to write so far which is probably why it's the second shortest. It's also my least favourite, with my favourite being chapter 2. This is mostly because I couldn't get Colby's farewell with his family right and feel that I kind of just rushed the whole thing. Oh well. The next part is going to be a lot more fun, anyway.

And now for some notes about the story so far, if anyone is interested.

I've wanted to write some kind of Pokémon centric fanfiction for a while and liked the idea of using Pidgey and Rattata. For such common Pokémon, they really don't get used too often. I blame Eevee. Actually, no I don't. Eevee is just too cute to blame.

Most of the names of Colby's family members are either references, or the names of random dogs I have met in my live. I found the name Colby in a list of pet rat names. The origin of the name has nothing to do with the character but I liked the sound of it. Apparently, it's a kind of cheese?

As for Meilikki, the name came from a mythological huntress. Well, it was but I accidently started swapping the I and the E and now the spelling Meilikki has just stuck. If you look at chapter one, I actually spelt it right the first time. I guess it makes her more unique?

So, that's all I have to say. Feel free to leave a review of what you think of the story so far. I say that as if I am being gracious in allowing that but really it's benefiting me so it would be more accurate to say: "Give me attention! Now!"

Thanks to those who are following this so far. I hope I don't disappoint you.

And on that positive note,

Bye!


	6. Chapter 6: The human settlement

The human settlement they reached was fascinating. Colby and Meili had barely entered the city and already the Rattata was blown away by what they had found. It was nothing like the forest, there were more humans more species of Pokémon than Colby had ever seen in his life.

Meili, meanwhile, was taking the whole thing in stride. She fluttered from roofs to the tops of tall grey poles as Colby darted between and around humans, trying not to get trodden on. Occasionally, someone would notice him and gingerly step away.

"Do you know of a place we can go?" Colby called up, his voice barely carrying up to the flying type.

"I'm not sure, to be honest. I've only been here a few times!"

"How about we stop for a bit, then?"

"Sounds like a good idea." Meili agreed, hopping from her most recent perch to land next to him. A human let out a slight yelp as she flew right past his face. "Maybe I should look for somewhere to go. Tell you what, there's an area that looks kind of empty just ahead. It's like a gap between the buildings."

Colby peered down the street.

"I think I can see it."

"Just stay there for a bit and I'll tell you what I find."

"You sure?" Asked Colby. He didn't like the idea of being left alone in this place.

"I won't be long. I can probably just take a lap of the area, then I'll come back."

"Okay …" Colby reluctantly agreed.

Meili nodded. "See you in a moment, then."

As she flew away, Colby looked down the street again. Taking a deep breath, he continued along and, after narrowly avoiding getting trampled twice, he reached the area Meili had indicated. He poked his head around, his nose twitching at the odd smell that greeted him.

It appeared to be some kind of path between the buildings, the towering structures casting a foreboding shadow over the place. It seemed empty, though, so Colby hurried in. After catching his breath, Colby took another smell of the air. If he wasn't mistaken, that was food. But the only objects he could see were large grey cylinders. After further investigation, Colby found that the smell was indeed coming from these unassuming looking objects.

Suddenly, the top of one shifted. Colby looked up and was met by two red eyes. It was another Rattata, only a little older than himself.

"Thought I heard someone." She said. "Don't think we've met before, though."

Colby took an uncomfortable step back.

"I'm not from here." He explained, his tail flitting about.

The female Rattata jumped down. "Are you from the route, then?"

Colby nodded causing the other rat to grin.

"You can always tell." She explained. "They never know what's going on. I guess you smelled food here, huh?"

"Yeah," Colby agreed. He decided he probably shouldn't mention Meili. "What is that, then?"

"It's where the humans throw things away. If you're moving to the city then you should get used to eating from them."

Colby shot the cylinders an uncertain look.

"I... I'll keep that in mind. Thanks." He muttered, deciding he would only heed her advice if he was desperate.

"So, why did you come to the city?" She asked.

"Umm … Well …" Colby began, he hadn't expected her to keep talking. "I'm on a journey, I guess."

"Really?" She asked. "Bold one, then?"

"I guess" Colby said, looking away nervously at her smile. "More my friend than me, though."

"Oh? Well, If you need someone to show you around," She took a step closer. "I would be more than happy to do so."

"What?" Colby suddenly found that it was becoming harder to concentrate. The female Rattata was dangerously close to invading his personal space. "Oh, um, thanks. We probably won't stay long, though. Just, um, find some battles and move on."

"So, you're a battler too?" she took another step towards him. "I suppose I can see it.". She giggled slightly, looking him up and down.

Colby found himself unable to reply for a few seconds. He fiddled with his tail, timidly looking away.

"Anyway, I can still help you. You probably need help learning about cities. I can always … give you some pointers." She punctuated this last line with a wink that made Colby grow warm under his fur.

He was about to say something when the other Rattata froze in place. He blinked at her for a moment, but before he could ask what was up she had darted off down the alleyway and vanished into a crack in the wall. Colby stared after her for a few seconds, relieved yet oddly disappointed to see her go. A voice prompted him to turn around.

Colby jumped at the sight of something swooping down before he realised what it was.

"Meili!" greeted.

"Hi. Um, who was that?" Asked Meili, who was also looking where the Rattata had vanished.

"Her?" Said Colby. "She was just... um. She was just telling me about the city."

"Really? So why do you look so startled?"

"It's nothing." Colby assured her, letting go of his tail and trying to get himself to relax. For some reason, he really didn't want to tell Meili about that encounter. "So, did you find something?"

Meili gave him an odd look before shrugging her wings and replying "There's a grassy place not too far from here where some trainers were battling. We could go and challenge them."

Colby agreed and the two left the alley. Colby scurried along and worked out how to cross roads, Meili glided easily overhead. Eventually the two reached an open area field punctuated by a couple trees and benches. A few humans were milling about but Colby and Meili were only interested in the battle that was taking place between a young looking human boy and a slightly older girl. Both were dressed like the majority of trainers; the two had met and were focusing intently on their Pokémon.

The first was a standing black Pokémon that had feathers for a tail and behind its ear; its arms ended in sharp white claws. As they watched, it pounced on its opponent, a pinkish-purple rodent with spines on its back and a horn. The black Pokémon swiped at the pink one's side. The boy called for a Poison Sting and the purple Pokémon charged its foe before it could get away, stabbing its arm with its horn.

"Sneasel, get away and then use icy wind!" the female trainer called. The black Pokémon responded by jumping away from its opponent and, before it could charge again, shot a gust of air from its mouth that formed crystals as it shot towards the rodent.

"Dodge it!" Demanded the first trainer but it was too late. The icy blast knocked his Pokémon back. It shivered and the next step it took looked slightly sluggish.

"Come on, Nidoran, hit it with a Double Kick!"

The Nidoran shook off the ice and charged again. The Sneasel darted out of the way to avoid the initial attack and gave the Nidoran a slash along one side. However, the Nidoran turned, lifting itself on its hind legs before bringing its front paws down on to the Sneasel's chest. It let out a cry of surprise and pain before toppling backward.

A few seconds passed in silence, both trainers waiting to see if the Pokémon would rise. A beam of red light hit the Sneasel and it was withdrawn into its Pokéball.

"Good job." Said the Sneasel's trainer. "That Double Kick took me by surprise."

"Thanks." The boy answered rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I kind of forgot he knew that move."

The girl chuckled. "Well, I think you could challenge the gym soon. Come along at some point, ok?"

"I will." said the boy and the two shook hands. After the girl had left, the remaining trainer sat down and began to spray his Nidoran with some kind of liquid.

Meili turned to Colby.

"So, what did you think of that?" She asked, her excitement palpable.

"They're strong." Colby noted. "I think they're even better than the ones we've battled before."

"Well, in that case, we should go challenge that one." Meili replied, gesturing with one wing towards the boy.

"Now?" Asked Colby. "Shouldn't we train first?"

"This will be training." Meili insisted and, before Colby could stop the Pidgeotto, she had fluttered toward the boy. Colby was forced to follow.

"Battle us!" Meili demanded once she had reached the trainer. Of course, he only heard a squawk from the bird.

"Huh? Oh, a Pidgeotto." said the boy, looking up. "Are you hungry?"

"Well, now that you mention it..." Meili began before shaking her head. "No! We," She indicated herself and Colby with a wing, "Want to battle you." She gestured towards the Nidoran.

"What?" The boy said, even more confused. "You want me to capture you?"

Meili shook her head again and turned to Colby. "Can you try?"

The Rattata took a step towards the human. He indicated the Nidoran like Meili had done. He then pretended to punch the air and gnashed his teeth together aggressively.

"Oh, you want to battle!" the boy exclaimed, clicking his fingers in realisation.

Colby just nodded while Meili hopped in place and cried "Yes! Finally!"

"Okay, then." said the boy, a little confused before looking down at his Nidoran. "I guess I'll recall you for the moment then. That okay?"

"Sure." Said the Nidoran before he was converted into red energy and pulled inside his capsule.

The boy stood up. "Are you going to battle one at a time?" He asked, looking uncertainly at the two wild Pokémon.

Meili and Colby glanced at each other before Meili nodded.

"Okay then. You go over there and I'll send out my first Pokémon."

Colby and Meili started to walk across the field.

"Do you want to go first?" Asked Meili.

Colby gulped but nodded. They selected a spot in the field and Colby stepped forward to face the trainer.

"Ready?" Asked the trainer.

"Ready." Said Colby and, guessing what he had said, the trainer threw out his first Pokémon.

After the white light subsided, Colby found himself facing down a tan Pokémon with an odd pattern on its body and long claws on each hand.

"Hi there!" He said.

"Sandshrew!" Called the boy. "Start off with a Sand Attack!"

The Sandshrew stepped forwards. "Sorry about this." he said before he kicked at the ground, sending a spray of dirt at Colby. The Rattata tried to avoid it but some of the sand ended up getting in his eyes making him wince. In response, Colby whipped his tail back and forth a few times. He had no clue why, but he found that the attacks from enemy Pokémon would be lessened so he often tried to work it in.

"What are you doing?" asked the Sandshrew, perplexed. Colby stopped, a little self-conscious, and instead opted to get the battle going properly. He moved in with a Quick Attack and struck the Sandshrew in the side. He responded by following his trainers order to use Rollout. He curled up into a ball before propelling himself toward Colby. He dodged the first attack with relative ease since it was not going too fast and tackled the Sandshrew as he went past. The ground type was sent off course but soon curved round to charge him again. This time Colby only just managed to jump over but he had little time to recover before he was bowled over by the Rollout's third attack.

Colby picked himself up. Looking at the Sandshrew, he saw it swerving around and used a Quick Attack to avoid it and hit it again. He then bit down on the rolling Pokémon, forcing him to uncurl himself to throw him off.

"Dam, I forgot what your bites are like." The Sandshrew stated before launching a simple scratch at Colby, which he avoided.

"Fury Swipes!" his trainer called and Colby found himself on the receiving end of multiple scratches from the mouse Pokémon. Colby let out a pained cry and fell back, rolling on the ground to escape the onslaught . Once he was away, he put a bit of distance between him and his opponent. Taking a deep breath, he focused on the battle at hand. He knew he wasn't doing too well and had to think of something fast.

"It's using Focus Energy!" Called the trainer. "Stop it with Magnitude!"

Colby blinked, not knowing what either of those moves were. The answer to one of those came a second later as the Sandshrew stamped a foot on the ground and a tremor shook the field. Colby fell down for a moment but got back up as quick as he could to deliver a Quick Attack. This was met by another Scratch attack after the Sandshrew stumbled back.

"One more magnitude!"

The Sandshrew stomped once more. This tremor seemed stronger than the last. Colby stumbled for a moment before he hit the ground hard.

"Colby!" called Meili. "Can you keep going?"

Colby closed his eyes and tried to push himself to his feet. This attempt was almost immediately met by failure as he slumped back down.

"I think it's your turn, Meili." He told the Pidgeotto.

"You need help there?" Said a voice next to him. Colby looked up to see the Sandshrew standing next to him with one hand extended.

"Thanks." Said Colby, pulling himself to his feet.

While Colby moved over to where Meili had been, the Pidgeotto stepped forwards. The Sandshrew grinned.

"Your turn now, gorgeous." He said with a wink.

"Okay, you're going down now." Stated Meili flatly. She flapped her wings, first to take off and then it contorted to a more complicated pattern. Soon, a small Twister had formed in front of her which she sent hurtling towards the already battered Sandshrew.

"Try to dodge it!" called his trainer desperately. He only made it a few steps before the whirling winds snatched him off the ground and threw him a foot or so in the air. Colby watched in satisfaction as he hit the ground hard and didn't get up.

The boy frowned. "Return." he called, sucking in his Pokémon.

Meili was looking very pleased with herself as she landed.

"Bring it, then!" She demanded and the human took the ball containing the Nidoran from his belt.

"Go!" He shouted and the purple creature emerged.

"Hello again." He greeted. "How's the battle going?"

"Your sandy friend is down, as is Colby."

"Time for you to join them, then."

Meili rolled her eyes. "You can try."

Meili started the battle with a Gust attack. The Nidoran ran forward, enduring the strong wind that buffeted him back, and jumped up at Meili as she took off. The Pidgeotto managed to get away, but not before receiving a Poison Sting.

The Nidoran leered up at the bird who circled round cautiously before diving into a Quick Attack. She knew she was poisoned from that previous attack and couldn't waste time.

"Use Fury Attack! Stop it from getting away!" Meili banked up but this time the Nidoran was fast enough to first Tackle her and then started repeatedly jabbing at her with his horn.

The flying type let out a cry of pain as Colby watched on in concern. Eventually, Meili managed to escape the Nidoran's horn and got away as fast as she could. She was looking very ruffled.

Meili narrowed her eyes at the Nidoran. It wasn't a good idea to get up close again. Instead, she built up another Twister and sent it down.

"Counter with Water Pulse!" Called the trainer. Meili blinked in surprise as the Nidoran did just that. The Water Pulse cut right through the Twister, causing the attack to fall apart before it slammed into Meili. The Pidgeotto was sent flipping backwards before she shakily stabilised herself.

"Great, it's confused!" The trainer celebrated. Sure enough, when Meili tried to fly forwards, she erratically swerved through the air. Before the Nidoran could even follow up, Meili had crashed into the ground where she lay still.

"Meili! Are you okay!" Shouted Colby, limping towards her. It was immediately clear that, unlike Colby, the bird was out cold.

Colby sighed. They had lost.

AN

So, I'm going to be replying to guest reviews down here.

Guest:

I have had a few thoughts about what Pokémon will join them later on. I think Geodude might work better than what I had in mind. Machop, too, but I just really don't like that line. Yet again, it might be therapeutic to write about a Machop. I guess we'll see.

As for being a rescue team, while this is not the Mystery Dungeon universe, I will probably include a few references and take inspiration from the series.


	7. Chapter 7: The Challengers

Colby groggily opened his eyes. He couldn't see clearly, but it appeared as if he was somewhere enclosed and bright.

He tried to think back to see if he could work out where he was. He had been in a battle. Colby remembered with a pang of sadness how he had lost. After that, things became a little more blurry, but he recalled Meili taking up the battle and she had beaten the Pokémon that Colby lost to. But what then? It took a few more seconds, during which the Rattata's thoughts became a little more coherent, but Colby remembered that Meili had battled a second Pokémon and lost. He had headed over to her. After that, he drew a blank. He could only assume that he had fainted from exhaustion. That could mean he was in a human building now.

Colby pushed himself to his feet, surprised that he wasn't feeling very tired. He looked around. It was definitely a human building. The geometric shapes and odd devices were only really made by humans. There was also the fact that there were several humans in the room.

One in white with pink hair and a white hat was throwing a dim looking rock away and the human boy who had beaten them was standing on his other side.

"Hi, Rattata." He greeted. "You and your friend both fainted so I figured I'd bring you here.". At Colby's blank look he continued. "This is a Pokémon Centre."

Colby's eyes widened and he looked around the area with more interest. His father had mentioned these places, but he had no clue what they were like.

He appeared to be on some kind of elevated surface that turned to meet the walls, forming an enclosed space. There was a large grey human device in this area along with some other equipment. The rest of the room was mostly empty. Some humans sat on chairs in a corner and some different manmade objects were against a wall letting off a deep hum.

Colby was relieved to find Meili next to him. The pink haired human was currently applying a crystal, not unlike the dark one she had just thrown away, to the Pidgeotto. As Colby watched, the light in the crystal dimmed and Meili's eyes fluttered open. After what seemed to be the same disorientation that Colby had just gone through, she stood up.

"Where are we?" She asked.

"A Pokémon Centre." Colby explained. "It's a place where they heal Pokémon."

"Guess that means we lost?". She looked disappointed. Colby looked down in shame at that reminder. He felt as if it had been his fault. After all, he couldn't even take down the Sandshrew.

"The trainer brought us here after we fainted." he supplied quietly.

"You fainted?" Meili asked, shock clear on her face as she turned to him. "Did you try to continue the battle?"

"No." Colby shook his head. "I must have been exhausted and just passed out."

"Oh, guess that's okay, then." she looked towards the door on the other side of the room. "Should we leave now, then?"

"Sure." Colby turned to the trainer, wanting to somehow show thanks for him bringing them here but noticed he was currently talking to the pink haired woman. She was passing him his Pokéballs.

"So, Brian, what are you planning on doing now?"

The boy, who was apparently called Brian, smiled. "Well, I think I might be ready to challenge the gym now."

"Okay." She chuckled. "Good luck with that then." replied the woman.

Colby looked to Meili. The Pidgeotto also seemed to have been listening.

"So, there is a gym here!" she exclaimed. "What do you say, Colby? We could follow him and find it."

Colby looked from the Pidgeotto to the boy who was heading toward the door and back again. He really wasn't sure about this. Losing to Brian had reminded him exactly how outclassed he was. Once again, however, he found he couldn't let Meili down.

"Let's go." He said without much conviction. He jumped down from the counter and hurried after the boy. Meili followed soon after. Brian didn't notice as the two Pokémon slipped through the door after him.

"I'll keep track of him from the air." Meili told him once they were outside. "Try not to fall behind."

Colby swallowed nervously. Getting lost in this city could prove to be disastrous. After all, he would have no easy way to find Meili again.

"You'll make sure I'm still following?" He asked. Meili bobbed her head.

"Don't worry, I will. We need to get going, though." and with that she abruptly took off with a flurry of feathers that made Colby jump. Sudden movements from the Pidgeotto could still startle him.

Colby hurried along. Brian was just turning a corner and he rushed to reach it too when Meili vanished as well.

About five minutes later, Colby was out of breath but had managed to keep up. Brian had stopped outside a large building with a dull brown roof. Meili was a little down the street, watching to see if the trainer would go in.

"I don't like these cities." Colby told the bird as he walked up to her, panting.

"You're just unlucky you can't fly. I guess I could carry you …"

Colby moved away from her slightly, as if she would snatch him up any second.

"Umm, it's fine."

"Oh yeah. Sorry." Meili said, looking sheepish.

Nothing was said between the two for a few moments. It was then that Brian went to open the door.

"Hurry!" Exclaimed Meili, rocketing into the air. Colby kept pace below her and the two reached the trainer just as he was about to step through.

"What!" He said, sounding confused as he looked down. "You two again? What are you doing here?"

Meili waved a wing towards the building and Brian blinked. He looked up at a sign.

"You want to go in the gym?" He asked and Meili nodded. "Well, follow me I guess. Don't know what you want to do though."

The three stepped inside. They were now in a large room with trainers and Pokémon milling about. Quite a few battles were taking place and other Pokémon were practicing various flashy attacks while their trainers conversed. The girl who had lost to Brian earlier was walking up to them.

"So, you've decided to challenge Blue?"

Brian set his jaw and nodded. "I think I'm ready." He told her.

"Well, I guess you have two more Pokémon now."

Brian looked down at the two Pokémon.

"Oh, they aren't mine. They followed me in here … for some reason."

"Huh. Well, we can find out what they want in a moment." She turned, calling back over her shoulder "I'll just go get Blue."

After she had gone, Brian began to play with one of the buttons on his jacket, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He took the Pokéballs from his belt and released his two Pokémon.

"Okay, you two. We are at the gym. Do you think you're ready to challenge Blue?" He asked.

The Sandshrew crossed his arms. "I was ready when we got here." he said confidently while Nidoran just nodded.

"Thanks. Blue should be along any moment."

"And why are _they_ here?" Asked the Sandshrew, pointing towards Meili and Colby. "Are they joining us or something?"

"I don't know what they're doing here." Said Brian, shrugging.

Upon hearing this, Sandshrew turned to Colby.

" _Well_?" He demanded.

Colby fidgeted with the end of his tail. "Well, umm... We were..."

"We're going to challenge this Blue person." Meili interjected. The Sandshrew looked skeptical.

"Do the two of you have a trainer, then?" He asked, looking about the gym.

"Nope." Stated Meili proudly.

The ground type scoffed. "You're wild Pokémon trying to take down a gym leader?" He asked. "Yeah, good luck."

Meili ruffled her feathers, looking offended. Colby decided he needed to step in before she could get into an argument with the Sandshrew.

"We... We wanted to go on a journey but never got captured." he explained. "We don't even know if we will challenge the gym."

"Well, I don't think you can." said the Sandshrew. "Gym leaders are some of the toughest trainers in the region and you two battle like wild Pokémon. You're at a huge disadvantage without a trainer."

Colby didn't answer. He was starting to agree with the Sandshrew. Meili, on the other hand, was indignant.

"How exactly are we at a disadvantage? Unlike you, we don't have a human shouting out what we're about to do."

The Sandshrew's eyes narrowed. "You're predictable." He told her. "Trainers think up strategies while detached from the battle. All you can do is spam attacks and try not to get hit."

"As if you didn't do that!" Meili hissed. Colby took an uneasy step away from the angry Pidgeotto.

"I think it's a cool idea." Said the Nidoran, stepping between them. Colby let out a sigh of relief. "You're taking control of your own future. I think you can do it."

"Thank you." said Meili. She glared at the Sandshrew but before she could say anything more the door across the room opened.

"So, you're finally ready to challenge me?" The voice easily carried through the room, cutting off all conversations. "It only took you two weeks to gather the courage."

A frown flickered across Brian's face for a moment before he adopted a stoic look.

"I wanted to make sure I could win." He answered. "You shouldn't be a problem now."

"Well, aren't you confident?" said the gym leader, strolling towards them. He had hair the colour of oak wood and wore a black jacket and sunglasses. He shot Brian an arrogant smirk. "I guess I can respect that."

Behind him trailed the girl who had gone to get him. "So, four on four, first badge?" asked Blue, looking down at the group of Pokémon.

"What? Oh, no. Those two aren't mine." explained Brian, gesturing towards Colby and Meili. "I think they're wild. They just kind of followed me in."

Blue raised an eyebrow.

"Okay..." He turned to the girl. "Zahra, find out what they want."

Zahra looked down at them. "Um, okay?"

Blue began to walk away again. "Come on then." He called. Brian ran to catch up and the two vanished through the door on the other side of the room, a few trainers following to spectate.

Zahra looked after them for a moment before turning her attention to the two normal types.

"So... do you know you're at the Viridian gym?"

Well, they hadn't known the name but Meili nodded anyway. Zahra rested her chin in one hand in thought.

"Okay, do you want something?"At seeing Meili nod again she looked around. "Do you want to become gym Pokémon?" When Meili shook her head Zahra threw up her hands. "I'm going to need a psychic for this. You two just wait here."

Zahra walked off and returned a minute later with a blue and white Pokéball clutched in one hand.

"Natu, I need your help." She said as she released the ball's contents. The beam of white energy died down to reveal a small green bird. It bore little resemblance to Meili, however, as it was mostly just a ball with small red and yellow wings and red feathers making up a crest and tail.

"What is it?" asked the bird, hopping around to face Zahra.

"Natu, I need you to talk to these two Pokémon and tell me what they want. Can you do that?"

"Yes." Said Natu before turning again and taking a couple of steps towards the friends.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Hang on." Said Meili. "How is this going to help? If we tell you then she still won't understand."

The Natu turned her attention towards Meili, staring with her glassy unblinking eyes. "I can communicate with humans." she explained.

"Do you speak their language?" Asked Colby, surprised. He didn't know that was possible.

The Natu turned her gaze to the Rattata. "I am a trained telepath." She stated.

"Oh." Said Colby. He had no clue what that meant but was becoming uncomfortable under the Natu's gaze. When Colby eventually began to fidget, the Natu turned back to Meili.

"So, what is it?" She asked again.

"Well, I guess we want to challenge that Blue person. Is that how it works?"

"Normally trainers will come in with their Pokémon to challenge the gym leader and get their badge. Do you two have a trainer?"

"No." Meili shook her head.

"Interesting." Responded the Natu. "I'll tell Zahra, then."

The Natu turned around and stared up at the human. Colby and Meili glanced at each other, uncertain was the Natu was doing. She just appeared to be standing still but a frown of concentration spread across Zahra's face, as if she were listening to something. After a few seconds, the girl furrowed her eyebrows and regarded the two friends.

"They want to challenge the gym?" She asked the Natu who swayed back and forth in the closest approximation to a nod that her spherical body could perform.

"I don't know if they _can_ without a trainer." She looked over her shoulder. "Ryan! Weird question, but can wild Pokémon challenge Blue?"

"Wild Pokémon?" Replied the trainer. "Never heard of it, but I don't see why not. You should probably ask him yourself, though."

"Not a bad idea." Said Zahra. "Follow me. We can go wait for Brian's battle to end."

The Natu was returned and the three of them walked across the room. Passing through the door on the other side, they found themselves in a spacious area about as large as the first. This room, however, was one large arena. The floor was flat and covered in loose sand and Brian and Blue stood at either end with a small gathering of trainers watching from the sidelines. Brian was currently commanding his Sandshrew while Blue was ordering a shaggy brown creature with a pink nose.

"Powder Snow, Swinub." Blue commanded. A blast of white snow was carried on a gust of wind towards the Sandshrew who went into a Rollout to avoid the attack. He spun in close and uncurled himself to deliver a Scratch. The Swinub, however, didn't appear to be too bothered by this attack and retaliated with another Powder Snow which sent Sandshrew stumbling back.

"Sandshrew, this isn't your fight. Return!" Brian called, withdrawing his Pokémon and sending out his Nidoran. "Stay back and use Water Pulse!"

"Mud bomb." Blue countered. A blob of viscus mud was blasted at the Nidoran, disrupting the Water Pulse but losing power as a result. When the dirt connected, it only weakly spattered over the Nidoran's back. He let out a grunt and shot a second Water Pulse which the Swinub avoided.

"Get a little closer and try!" Called Brian, his Nidoran responding by charging the pig Pokémon. He was forced to dodge a Mud Bomb and a Mud Slap, but he was eventually close enough to fire a point-blank Water Pulse that the Swinub couldn't avoid. Swinub righted itself after being sent flying but its clumsy movements showed it was confused.

"Quick! Use Double Kick before it can recover!"

Nidoran jumped at the Swinub and his paws smashed against the ice and ground type's side. Swinub stumbled, tried to turn to attack the retreating Nidoran and then collapsed. Blue took a Pokéball from his belt and returned it.

"Well, you won." He told Brian who appeared shocked by the victory. A second later, Brian let out a whoop and ran to pick up his Nidoran as the gathered trainers gave a polite round of applause.

"We did it!" He celebrated. He released his Sandshrew and swept up both his friends in a hug. "Thanks, you two."

"Yes, well done." Said Blue, walking up to the group. Brian hurriedly let go of his Pokémon and stood up to shake the gym leader's hand.

"Thank you." He said, still beaming.

"As you have defeated me you have earned the Earth Badge." Blue told him, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a shiny metal object which he passed to Brian. The young trainer reverently took the badge and withdrew a case from his pocket. After admiring it for a few seconds, he closed the navy-blue box and looked back up at Blue.

"You also get the TM for Trick Room."

Brian gave a nod of thanks and pocketed a disk that Blue handed him.

"You off to Pewter next, then?" asked Blue.

"Probably." Brian replied.

"Well, you head off. I need to see what these two want."

The young trainer's smile faded at the abrupt dismissal but he made his way out, his Pokémon following. The gathered trainers also dispersed now the battle was over.

"Did you manage to find out why they're here, then?" asked Blue.

"Yeah, apparently they want to challenge you." Said Zahra. Blue raised an eyebrow.

"Challenge me? As in, to get a badge?"

"I guess so." said Zahra, shrugging.

Blue looked over the two friends. Colby couldn't help but feel that the gym leader was judging them. Eventually, Blue shook his head.

"I'm not battling them." He declared.

"What!" Meili squawked. "Why not?"

Blue seemed to get what she was asking as he met the Pidgeotto's glare with a collected look of his own.

"You wouldn't win." He explained. "I train my teams against Pokémon like you."

Colby was reminded of what the Sandshrew had told them. However, hearing it from the gym leader himself was much worse. Colby hadn't realised exactly how much of a disadvantage they were putting themselves at until now.

Meili didn't appear to think the same, though. She took a step forward, still glaring.

"Don't you have to accept every challenge, though?" Asked Zahra.

"I have to accept every challenge from a trainer. I don't have to waste my time with wild Pokémon that have no chance." Blue scoffed.

"I think you'll be surprised." Meili spat.

"Okay then." Said Blue. "If you think you can beat me then you should have no trouble with Zahra here. Battle her and I'll see what you can do." Blue walked to the edge of the arena. "Oh, and use your Butterfree." He told the girl.

Zahra appeared surprised for a moment but hurried to take her position on one end of the arena while Colby and Meili moved to the other end.

"You two ready?" Called the trainer. At seeing their nods, she unclipped a Pokéball from her belt.

"Go, Butterfree!" She called and tossed the ball into the air. The blob of light that emerged soon took the shape of a Pokémon. It had a segmented purple body that contrasted its monochromatic wings. It was clearly some kind of bug. Meili scoffed.

"I'll handle this one." She told Colby and took off.

AN

So, it's been a while. However, it's not just me being lazy. Over the last few weeks, my beta reader has been going through the first 6 chapters of this story and improving them. Thanks so much to the fantastic vaguekiwi for agreeing to be this stories beta! You've been very encouraging and have provided me with great feedback.

If any of you want to find her, she is in my favourite authors list. Alternatively, if you got infinite monkeys on infinite computers to type in URLS then one of them should type in the correct one.

Most of the edits are quality based, but the Pichu from chapter 2 was turned into an oddly pink Espurr because it made more sense for the story. You can go reread it if you like, or you can just take my word for it. You should probably know, however, or you will probably get confused.

Anyway, heres to who knows how many more chapters of this thing! See you all next time.


	8. Chapter 8: Hitting the Gym

Meili soared forward, already preparing a Twister in front of her. The Butterfree, however, appeared unconcerned and shot a thin silvery thread at her. Meili was forced to launch her attack early to roll out of the way. The Butterfree took the weakened attack with little problem and shot a second string. This time, the thread found its target. Soon, Meili was struggling to stay airborne as her wings tangled. She let out a growl and attempted to rush the bug type with a Quick Attack. She missed.

"While it's close, use Stun Spore!" Zahra called. The Butterfree rapidly flapped its wings and soon Meili was engulfed in a cloud of the paralytic spores.

It was clear at this point that Meili was struggling. The spores caused her wings to seize up for a moment. By the time she regained control of them she was only just fast enough to avoid crashing into a wall. Instead, Meili opted to land and set about trying to get the silvery threads off.

"Psychic!" Zahra commanded. Meili's eyes widened and she attempted to get out of the way. Her wings failed to respond and a second later she was sent flying against the wall and rendered unconscious.

Colby gulped. It was his turn and he wasn't feeling too optimistic. The Butterfree had taken down Meili and had only endured one weakened Whirlwind in the process. Colby took a few steps forwards, glancing in concern at his defeated friend, and readied himself.

Colby darted forward. Upon getting close, he tensed his hind legs and threw himself upwards. The bug almost leisurely drifted to the side and Colby landed a few feet away. Not wasting a second, he turned and jumped again. This time the Butterfree floated up and shot a String Shot down at him. Luckily it missed and Colby prepared for a third jump.

" _Seriously_?" Asked the Butterfree, speaking for the first time. "You're going to try that again?"

Colby ignored it and jumped, his teeth just missing his opponent's leg.

"Sleep Powder!" Zahra commanded and the Butterfree obeyed. Colby's eyes widened. He landed and tried to run away but inadvertently took in a breath of the attack. He coughed and found himself starting to slow. The world twisted and distorted around him. His vision drifted in and out of focus. Through the haze that spread across his mind, he heard Zahra command her Pokémon to do … something. Just before he dropped something rammed into his side. This proved to be too much, and Colby blacked out.

"Colby?" Called a voice. The Rattata mumbled and shifted a little, but otherwise didn't respond. His body wasn't ready to listen yet.

"Colby!" The voice called again. She, because it sounded like a she, sounded more commanding this time and Colby half opened an eye. A bright light assaulted him and he closed it again.

"What?" He mumbled. Part of him noted how tired he felt. Normally, Rattata could go from a deep sleep to being wide awake in a few seconds, but for some reason his body felt as if it was being forced to rest.

"Here, let me give him this." Came a second voice. A moment later Colby heard a hissing noise. He felt a cold spray on his fur. A moment later, his energy returned to him and he blinked back awake.

"What happened?" He asked Meili, who had been the first speaker.

"We lost, again." She told him, sounding even more upset than last time. She shot the Butterfree a dirty look. "The bug put you to sleep and then knocked you out."

Colby stared in horror at the bug type floating above them, looking rather smug. If he had lost then that meant it had taken down both him and Meili with little effort. It didn't look too strong so, what had happened?

"And that is why I won't battle you." Blue told them, strolling over. Colby realised with a jolt that the gym leader had seen their embarrassing loss. "You had no clue what to expect and couldn't strategise and adapt when what you were doing didn't work. You just went for an all-out attack."

Meili glared, but otherwise didn't respond. After all, there wasn't much she could say. They had lost, just like Blue said they would.

"If you're going to challenge me you're going to have to train yourselves."

Colby and Meili glanced at each other. That was what they had been doing, wasn't it? Meili clicked her beak in frustration and gave Blue a look that clearly communicated he needed to explain himself.

Blue sighed. "I mean you need to train yourselves like trainers would. At the moment, you think like wild Pokémon."

"Well, how exactly do trainers do things then?" Meili asked, her voice slightly mocking.

"You could stay here." Blue continued, not getting the question. "This is a gym after all. Trainers tend to forget these places are made for training." Blue turned to the door of the arena and made his way towards it. "I'll give you a week. If you like, you can try to get better and I might give you a battle if you're improved." With that, the gym leader departed.

Quiet fell across the almost deserted room. Colby kicked at the sand beneath his feet while Meili seethed.

"If you like, the other trainers and I can give you some pointers." Zahra offered, kneeling down. "It's going to make things a lot easier."

Colby noticed Meili was still staring angrily at the door, as if the plank of wood had been the one to insult her ability. Colby reluctantly took it upon himself to talk to Zahra.

"Thanks." He gave her a timid smile which she returned.

A few hours later, Colby and Meili had found an alleyway not too far from the gym. At first they had considered sleeping in the forest but a quick scout by Meili had shown it to be further away than they realised. This shadowy pathway was a functional yet less comfortable alternative. Colby found a small hole in the side of one of the towering buildings while Meili was perched further above him.

"I didn't realise it would be this difficult." Colby admitted, looking down at his tail which was curled around his body and clutched in one paw. "Do you think we're really ready to do this?"

Meili nodded firmly. "We just got unlucky today. Now that I know what that bug can do, I bet I could beat it no problem."

"How?"

"Well..." Meili faltered a little. "I could dodge the strings by staying away and, um, just spam Gust I guess."

"I think we're going to need more than that." Colby told her.

"Well, that's why we're here."

"You don't think not having a trainer will hold us back?" Asked Colby, looking up at his friend.

"Did you see that trainer today?" Meili waved a wing dismissively. "His Pokémon were doing most of the thinking. I mean, he thought he needed to remind his Pokémon to dodge!"

Colby agreed that seemed rather redundant.

"It's still going to be hard." He cautioned his confident companion. "I don't know if a week will be enough."

"Don't worry about it. Just get some sleep for now."

"Good idea." Said Colby.

"Well, good night." said Meili, tucking her head under one wing.

"Good night." Colby replied. He closed his eyes and curled up. After shifting about for a while he opened his eyes again and looked up at the Pidgeotto. "Um Meili?" He asked.

"Hmm?" Meili responded.

"Um, well... It's just that... I mean..." Colby glanced away. "Could you please sleep a bit further along?"

"Huh? Why?" Asked Meili, sticking her head out.

"Well, it's just that it's hard to sleep when you're kind of standing over me and..." Colby gestured towards Meili's talons. He met her gaze and saw her blink a couple times before she seemed to realise what he meant.

"Oh, sorry." She said. Colby thought she sounded a little dejected but before he could apologise Meili had taken off and landed just out of his line of sight. "I'm just here. You'll probably need to wake me up."

"Thanks." Colby whispered, just loud enough for her to hear. "See you tomorrow."

Soon enough, the long day and multiple losses caught up with him and he drifted off to sleep.

Colby was woken by the sun creeping down the alleyway. After waking an unresponsive Meili, the two headed to the gym only to find it wasn't open yet. After milling about for a while, and attracting a few odd looks from passing humans, Blue turned up and let them in. A few more trainers turned up shortly after and soon enough Zahra arrived. They spent the first day learning about various kinds of Pokémon, their strengths and weaknesses, and what tricks to expect. The slow pace and lack of actual battling appeared to frustrate Meili but by the end of the day Colby thought he was more prepared to deal with whatever their adventure might throw at them. On the second day, they practiced the techniques they already knew. Meili was tutored on refining attacks such as Gust, Twister, and Whirlwind and Colby was set to practicing Bite so he could develop Hyper Fang. He didn't quite get it down but at least he managed to file his teeth.

It was on the third day that Zahra offered them a few practice battles against some of the weaker gym Pokémon. Colby had been paired with a black dog like creature with horns and a spiked tail. He quickly discovered she could breathe fire.

Colby rolled under a jet of flame which almost engulfed him and used Quick Attack to put some space between them. The Houndour threw her head back and howled before lunging at Colby, jagged teeth bared. Colby tried to tackle her but was picked up, shaken like a dog's toy, and thrown to the side. Colby's first realisation upon landing, after the fact that it really hurt, was that the attack had been stronger than it should have been. Remembering how the Houndour's howl, he realised she must have used it to make her attack stronger. Instead of trying for another attack, Colby performed a Tail Whip attack. Zahra had explained that what he had been doing was an actual technique so he now used it to bring his opponent's strength down to a more manageable level. He then used Quick Attack before she had the chance to retaliate. The two fell to the floor. A glow began to build up in the Houndour's throat. Colby's eyes widened and he tried to move away but before she could fire the door to the gym burst open.

"I challenge you to a battle!" Shouted a familiar voice. The room went quiet and both Colby and the Houndour turned to the door.

"Um, who are you challenging?" One of the trainers asked. The newcomer stepped through the door. Her outfit wasn't the same but the black hair and emerald eyes identified her as the girl Colby and Meili had battled less than a week ago. She looked about, confused.

"The gym leader." She said. "Are they here?"

"Blue should be back soon. If you like, one of us can give you a practice battle."

The girl smiled.

"Thanks, but I don't need practice. I'm ready to win!"

The gym trainer rolled his eyes.

"Well, take a seat." He offered, indicating a bench by the wall. The girl sat impatiently.

"Are you ready to continue?" Asked the Houndour. Colby turned back to her and nodded. "Now, where were we?" She asked and then grinned. "Oh yeah!"

Colby ducked in time to avoid an Ember to the face.

As they continued, Colby noticed the girl had released her Pokémon. As well as Benu and Esme, there was a large yellow and black bug which had more stingers than Colby thought was necessary. As he bit down on the Houndour's leg and was thrown about in her attempt to dislodge him, he saw that the Espurr was shooting him an odd look. Eventually, the more experienced Houndour knocked got the better of him and Colby was knocked out. As he was bought back, he saw that the pink Espurr was approaching.

"Excuse me, but did we battle a few days ago?" She asked.

Colby pulled himself to his feet and turned to face her. "Um... yes."

The Espurr smiled.

"So you got caught? Well, congratulations!"

"Uh, no." Colby admitted. "I'm still wild."

"So, what are you doing here?" She asked, a note of suspicion entering her voice.

Colby glanced up at where Meili was engaged in an aerial battle with a Wingull. "I'm learning to battle." He told her.

"Well, obviously. Why are you learning to battle if you don't have a trainer?"

"We need to get better to battle Blue."

Esme's eyes widened. "But you can't do that without a trainer." She protested.

"Oh, not this again." Exclaimed Meili, swooping down to land next to Colby. "We will be able to win when we - Ahhh!"

Meili turned her dripping wet head to glare at the Wingull.

"Hey! Time out! I thought that was obvious!" she snapped.

"Sorry." The Wingull mumbled as he landed a little ways off.

Meili shook the water out of her plumage before continuing.

"Anyway, we know we aren't as good as the gym leader yet, but that's why we're here."

Esme looked genuinely surprised.

"I don't mean that." She protested. "After all, you beat me and Beaky. I just don't know why wild Pokémon like you care."

Why did they care? For some reason, the question made Colby think. He and Meili had wanted to go on an adventure for ages, had tried desperately to get captured but now that he was here it hadn't quite been what he'd expected. Their first day alone had been both physically and emotionally taxing, with them losing twice and Colby struggling to navigate the hectic streets. If he was being honest with himself, he couldn't quite come up with an answer.

Of course, Meili had no trouble coming up with a response.

"We want to travel and grow stronger!" She announced, spreading her wings in an overly grand gesture. "Isn't that the reason you travel?"

In response, Esme looked back at her trainer. "I guess." She said. "But wild Pokémon tend to be... more focused on survival and resources. Those that aren't smart enough to go with a human, that is."

"Wanting to be captured isn't smart." Said a new voice. The three turned just as Benu landed nearby. "I mean, just look at Eleanor."

"What's wrong with her?" Esme demanded.

Benu rolled his eyes. "Remember what strategy she has for this battle?"

"Well, yes. I'm sure it will be fine." Said Esme. She pointed at him. "You should have more faith in your trainer,"

Benu clicked his beak and they all looked back at Eleanor. "Trainer? I would be much better off if she'd just let me get on with it."

"That's just your problem!" Esme growled. "All you wild Pokémon think you know what's best. You don't understand that humans know more than you ever will."

"How can you think that when your only interaction with them is a child who's father's home is the size of a small forest?" Benu's voice was sharp, it didn't seem he was adjusting to his trainer very well.

"I know because I grew up with her. I _get_ the concept of _civilization_."

"Um, I think your trainers calling you." Colby piped up. He had noticed Blue enter not long ago and the girl, Eleanor, had been trying to catch the attention of her quarrelling Pokémon. Meili had enjoyed watching the argument too much so Colby reluctantly decided he needed to speak up. He quickly regretted it however, as the two turned to glare at him for interrupting.

"Um, sorry?"

Neither responded as they turned and made their way across the room.

"I reckon they either fall in love, or one of them murders the other." Meili commented, ruffling her wings to settle her feathers back into place.


	9. Chapter 9: Trainer Eleanor

By mutual agreement, Colby and Meili's training was put on hold so they could watch Eleanor's battle.

Eleanor stood at one end of the Gym's stadium. Staring her down at the other end was Blue, leaning against the wall while spinning a Pokéball on one finger.

"This will be a three on three battle for your first badge." He stated.

"Get ready to hand it over then!" Eleanor responded and they tossed out their first Pokémon. Esme hit the sandy floor on all fours and promptly brushed herself off before she looked up to take in her opponent. She was faced with a white and brown bipedal Pokémon with a flat snout. It punched the ground and the battle began.

"Mankey, Fury Swipes." Blue commanded. His Pokémon rushed Esme and started to swipe and slash at her, screaming in rage. Eleanor was momentarily taken aback.

"Um... Confusion!" A pink glow shone out of the flurry of movement and the next moment the Mankey stumbled, blinking from the mild disorientation Esme's attack caused. It soon recovered and followed an order to use Karate Chop.

Eleanor gave a smirk.

"Knock it back with Psychic!" She yelled. Esme's ears shifted over the rings beneath and a wave that appeared to distort the air struck Mankey.

"Psychic? A TM, I guess." Blue commented as his Pokémon was sent spinning through the air. It landed and without losing momentum ran at Esme again, proceeding to deliver an explosive series of chops and kicks. The kitten struggled to fend him off and looked to her trainer for guidance.

"Try Iron Tail?" Eleanor said, sounding uncertain. Esme's tail shone silver and she started to beat away some of the Mankey's attacks.

"Weren't psychics meant to be good against fighting types." Meili asked, watching in morbid fascination as Esme was punted across the room.

"I think so." Said Colby. Esme shot a green ball of energy at the Mankey before she was forced to run when the fighting type jumped at her again. She fired attacks blindly back at her pursuer, which all missed, and before long it was clear she was tiring.

"Esme, return!" Shouted Eleanor, holding up her Pokéball.

Blue smirked. "Pursuit.", He ordered. Just before the red light could bring Esme to safety, the Mankey rushed forward and knocked her into the wall. Esme limply thumped to the ground and was recalled, now out of the fight.

"Sorry Esme." Eleanor said to the ball before she called on her next Pokémon "Go, Beaky!"

Benu formed from the white light and quickly scanned the situation. "Try to take it out quickly with Aerial Ace!" Eleanor ordered. Benu saw the Mankey running at him and, instead of obeying, made an exact copy of himself appear next to him. The Manky stopped. It scratched the top of its head, looked between them, and then turned to Blue.

"Just hit both of them." Blue ordered. Mankey was more than happy to do so. One of the Benu's flew forward and was enthusiastically punched. It promptly vanished and the real Benu came in from the side with Aerial Ace. He then chased Mankey to the ground, pecking repeatedly. Finally, Benu's wings glowed silver and he swept them forwards just as Mankey hit the ground. He crashed into the sand and went still.

"Good job." Said Blue, returning his Mankey.

"Thanks!" Eleanor smiled.

"I wasn't talking to you." said Blue but, before Eleanor could ask him what he meant, he sent out his second Pokémon. A short, pink and dopey looking creature appeared. It seemed oblivious of what was going on for about 10 seconds and then slowly looked around. His gaze passed over Benu twice before he focused on the Spearrow and blinked again.

Blue started off by telling his Slowpoke to use Curse. In the five or so seconds it took for it to do so, Benu was told to use Aerial Ace and instead used Fury Attack. He viciously jabbed at the Slowpoke while its eyes glowed red. After this, Benu stepped away, looking cautiously at the Slowpoke's vacant face. He struck it with Steel Wing, nodded, and walked around to look the Slowpoke in the eye.

"Use Water Gun." Said Blue. Benu leered at his pink opponent for a few seconds with little reaction and then nimbly dodged the jet of water that was shot back. Another Fury Attack was unleashed and the Slowpoke only now let out a confused, "Ow."

Benu stepped away and the Slowpoke turned to deliver a Headbutt that Blue had ordered about ten seconds ago.

Eleanor, meanwhile, had given up trying to tell Benu what attacks to use and was pointing her Pokédex at the Slowpoke and frowning to herself. Eventually, she snapped her fingers.

"Oh yeah! Psychic is weak to bug, right?" she asked no one in particular. She took Benu's ball and the final one from her belt and shouted. "Beaky, return!"

Benu glared at his trainer, dodged the red light, and took flight. A glow enveloped the Spearow and he shot at the Slowpoke, struck it in the side, curved round and recalled himself.

Blue raised an eyebrow. "Did your Pokémon just have to remember that you had taught it U-Turn?" He asked. Eleanor just stared at Benu's ball in surprise and sent out a yellow and black bug.

"Okay Sting!" Eleanor started. "Use X-Scissor!"

The Beedrill crossed his stingers and rushed the Slowpoke. It stared at the oncoming bug for a few moments before its eyes glowed and the bee was thrown back by a pulse of psychic energy. As the Beedrill came back, Blue told Slowpoke to use Curse again which it finally did, just as it got hit by the X-Scissor. It was sent flipping through the air and disappeared in a cloud of sand. After a few moments, the dust settled and it was revealed that the Curse had not been enough and Slowpoke had been knocked out.

Blue recalled it and sent out his final Pokémon.

If Colby thought Beedrill was intimidating then this bug was nothing short of a killing machine. It had a green segmented body, piercing red eyes, and each of its thin arms ended with a long, thin, and razor-sharp blade.

Eleanor gasped as she recognized the Pokémon. She shakily scanned it as the two bugs circled each other above their heads.

"Okay, try Twineedle!" Said Eleanor. Her Pokémon looked uncertainly at the other bug's bladed arms and back at Eleanor. He then shrugged and buzzed forwards, stingers poised.

"Scyther, Cut." Ordered Blue. Just as Sting got close, the Scyther struck out so fast Colby only caught Sting's reaction. The Beedrill plummeted for a moment before he began to frantically flap his wings to stay in the air. A long gash along his front leaked a thick amber liquid and he was panting heavily.

"Just try it again!" Eleanor ordered. Sing stared at her incredulously. He shook his head and held up a stinger. A moment later, a fizzing and steaming blob of poison had formed and he lobbed that at the Scyther instead. Scyther dodged and shot toward the Beedrill. Another Sludge Bomb failed to stop the advancing mantis and Sting was forced to avoid two slashes. Scyther avoided another Twineedle attack and cut Beedrill along the side.

Eleanor, meanwhile, was starting to panic. She appeared to be searching her Pokédex for inspiration so she missed Scyther headbutting Sting and sending him plummeting to the ground. The thump that he made upon landing made her look up and she gasped. She fumbled with her Pokéball for a moment, dropping the Pokédex as she did so, and swapped Sting with Benu.

Taking in the Scyther and the Beedrill blood coating its blades, Benu threw himself into the battle. Cut was blocked by Steel Wing and Scyther took a Peck to the face. Benu then zipped around to get behind the bug, nimbly weaving between wild swipes, and began to unleash a Fury Attack.

"Finish it quickly with Double Edge!"

Scyther spun and hurled itself forward. Benu only had time to growl before he was hit and both combatants were sent spinning through the air.

Benu fluttered away from Scyther, battered but still conscious, and a second later his whole body flashed silver and he hurtled toward Scyther. They both smashed into the wall.

As Scyther fell to the ground and slowly reclaimed its feet, Eleanor appeared to read something on her Pokédex.

"Beaky!" She called. "You learned Mirror Move."

"I learned it yesterday." Benu snapped. "When you were feeding us those horrible candies."

"Now, finish it with Return!"

Benu gave his trainer a look of disbelief. A look of malice then entered his eyes and he said,

"Okay then."

He flapped forward and a faint glow appeared around his body, almost invisible in the lights of the gym. He approached the panting Scyther and tackled it in the chest.

This did next to nothing. Benu bounced off with a light thump and fluttered to the floor. He glanced over at Eleanor, who looked disappointed. Then he theatrically shrugged and hit the Scyther in the neck with Steel Wing just as it devised to jump him.

Blue returned his Scyther.

"Well, I guess you won." Blue stated, his expression heavy.

Eleanor returned an irritated looking Benu. She jumped and punched the air. "Yeah I did!"

"But you didn't deserve to." Blue continued, stopping Eleanor's celebration in its tracks.

"What? Why! My Pokémon beat yours."

Blue rolled his eyes. "Do you have any idea what just happened in that battle?", He asked.

"Yeah, I beat you?"

"No. Your Spearow beat me. Your Espurr could only act on your commands and lost a fight that she could have easily won, your Beedrill tried to follow your orders and got hurt badly for it and your Spearow did most of the work. Unlike you, it knew how to use the many TMs you taught it and was forced to think up strategies for itself to win. All _you_ did was make bad decisions."

Eleanor scowled.

"You're just angry you lost." She accused. "It's like when you lost as champion."

"Oh, I accept I lost fair and square. I just didn't lose to you." He took something green out of his pocket and tossed it to her. "But I guess you did win the badge. Take it."

Eleanor was quiet as she picked up the metal pin from the floor and inserted it into her badge case. She then turned and headed towards the door.

"I'm guessing you're going to Pewter next?" Blue asked.

Eleanor turned back, seething. "Yeah, why?"

"You might want to hold off. There have been some reports of wild Pokémon going after trainers." Eleanor scoffed at this.

"The rangers will deal with it." She said and, before anything more could be said, she breezed out of the room.

"You know. If Benu wasn't such a jerk, he'd be rather attractive."

Colby looked up at his friend. They were back in the alleyway after their day of training.

"What?" Colby asked, confused as to where that comment had come from. Meili nodded.

"Did you see the way he battled today? You have to admit that he knew what he was doing."

"Still, you think he's attractive?"

"Well, he's not bad. Just too bad he's the way he is." She fluttered down and smiled at him. "But as he is I guess I'm just going to have to look elsewhere."

Colby was somewhat lost for a response to that but, luckily, at that moment, they were interrupted.

"Hang on, you knew that Pidgeotto?"

The two turned to the speaker and Colby immediately recognised the Rattata cautiously stepping around the corner.

"I wondered why you didn't run away."

"And you are?" Meili asked, slightly annoyed.

"Syrah. Your friend and I... have met.". She looked to Colby. "I never did catch your name."

"Colby." He stuttered.

"And I'm Meilikki."

Syrah spared Meili a nod before turning her attention back to Colby.

"So, found any good battles yet?"

"Um, we're just training to take on the gym at the moment."

Syrah's eyes widened.

"The gym?" She asked. "You don't have a trainer, right?" Colby shook his head. "Well, I like it. If you want, I could give you a battle at some point."

Colby wasn't sure. Something about the way she said "battle" made him feel nervous. Clearly Meili thought the same as she began to move towards Colby, stopped herself, and said,

"We're fine. We need to practice more against trained Pokémon."

Syrah gave her an irritated and wary look.

"It's still good practice." She said cheerily, hopping slightly closer to Colby but now making sure to keep her distance from the Pidgeotto. This appeared to be the last straw for Meili as she moved over to Colby and wrapped a wing around him.

Colby's eyes widened. Fear, confusion and embarrassment all fought for dominance, resulting in him freezing in place. His eyes flitted between the two females. He got the impression that something more was happening here and he was caught in the middle of whatever that was. It came as a great relief, therefore, when Syrah smirked and said to Meili,

"Okay, I see. Don't worry, I'm not about to pick a fight with a Pidgeotto." She turned and walked to the end of the alleyway, looking back at the two of them.

"If you really think you can make it work …" She trailed off suggestively before disappearing back around the corner.

Neither moved for a few moments as they stared after the other rat. Meili appeared annoyed by something, Colby was just perplexed.

"Uh, Meili? Could you let go now?" Colby asked.

"Oh! Sorry!" Exclaimed Meili, releasing him from her wing and taking a couple large hops away from him. Colby relaxed at suddenly having his personal space back, his heart finally slowing down.

"So... What was that about?" He asked.

Meili took a second to calm down and collect herself before responding.

"I'll tell you when you're older." She smirked.

"We're the same age."

"We worked out that you're _probably_ slightly younger."

Colby decided that he probably wasn't going to get an answer.

"Fine." He mumbled.

"Now, let's get some sleep!" Exclaimed Meili and, before anything else could be said, she glided up to her perch along the alleyway. For a few seconds, Colby stared after the ever more confusing Pidgeotto before he climbed into his hole and she was out of sight.


	10. Chapter 10: Brains and Brawn

Four days had passed since Eleanor battled Blue and now Colby and Meili could, possibly, do the same. Their day started the same as it had all week. Meili went off to search for bugs in the nearby forest while Colby reluctantly rooted in a bin for something he could eat. To be honest, what he found wasn't bad but the act alone made him feel like the pest his species was made out to be.

They reached the gym not long after it opened and, without stopping, Meili led the way to the main arena.

"Well, we good enough for you yet?" She called to the gym leader after Zahra saw their pitiful attempts to open the door and let them through. Blue looked up at them in confusion.

"What do you want now?" He asked. Meili glared.

"It's been a week. Remember what you said?"

"I think they want to challenge you again." Zahra supplied. "You said you would battle them if they improved after one week."

"Guess I did." Said Blue. "Well, have they improved?"

"They still have a lot to learn, but I've seen trained Pokémon accomplish less."

Meili preened at the praise and Colby allowed himself a small smile. Apparently, this was enough for Blue as he pushed off from the wall and walked around the arena.

"Okay then." He said. "Two on two. First badge, obviously."

Meili fluttered into the air in excitement.

"Yes!" she exclaimed.

Zahra made her way back to the door, "I'll go tell the others."

A few minutes later, Colby and Meili stood on one end of the sandy room – the ever-confident Blue stood opposite. Colby felt a little self-conscious. After all, they were two small and unimpressive Pokémon facing down a former champion. They didn't know what that was, but it sounded impressive.

Most of the other trainers had gathered to see the battle. Colby noticed, with more than a little trepidation, that the crowd was larger than those for any of the battles he had seen so far. He supposed that they were curious about the strange wild Pokémon that had been hanging around for the last week.

"Decide which of you is going first and step forwards when I send out my first Pokémon." Blue called out to them.

Meili turned to him.

"What do you say?" She asked. Colby eyed the ball that Blue was holding and the second at his belt. They could be anything.

"I'll go first.", He tentatively offered. He could probably tire out the first Pokémon enough so that Meili could beat it and perhaps the second.

Meili nodded. "That's what I was thinking. I have more weaknesses as a flying and normal type." She signaled to Blue that they were ready to go.

"Good luck." Said Meili. Blue threw the ball and Colby rushed to meet whatever it was.

A humanoid grey Pokémon appeared. He had red eyes, a ridged head and, to Colby's dismay, looked strong.

Colby gulped and shot toward Machop with Quick Attack. The move struck but a moment later Colby was batted away by a Karate Chop that Blue ordered. He skidded away then rushed under a punch to reach Machop's leg. Colby focused on his fangs, channeling energy to make them stronger and sharper. His Super Fang easily pierced Machop's thick skin and he desperately hung on as he was kicked about. Eventually he was flung off but Machop was favouring his right leg. Colby hardly had time to cringe at the taste of blood before Blue called for Low Sweep and Machop swung his foot beneath Colby.

Colby gingerly climbed back to his feet. Every movement of his legs seemed to bring with it a stabbing pain that almost caused them to buckle. Unsurprisingly, walking was now a lot more effort.

He scurried back as best he could and looked at Meili who had been calling encouragement from the sidelines.

"Meili, I don't think I can beat him."

"You wanna swap?" She called back.

Colby fell to the side so as not to get kicked in the face. "Please?"

Meili took flight as Colby turned tail and limped to the edge of the arena, feeling like a coward all the way.

"Those were some nice moves." Meili shouted down at Machop. "Let's see you use them against me."

She opened up by blowing down a gust of air. Machop jumped to the side and ran forwards. He launched himself up and readied a punch that crackled with electricity. Meili dodged, laughing. A Twister began to form before her but as she focused on that Colby noticed Machop glance back at his trainer who nodded. Machop raised his arms and soon the sand beneath Meili began to shift.

"Look out!" Colby shouted, panicked as to what they were planning. Meili only just responded in time. She abandoned her Twister and rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding a flurry of rocks that would have struck her from the sky.

"Thanks!" Meili yelled. Turning her attention back to Machop she muttered "Now, what to do about you."

To Colby's surprise, she entered a divebomb toward Machop. After a moment she was just in front of him and she swept one wing downwards. A spray of sand struck Machop directly in the eyes and he e let out a pained shriek. However, this manoeuvre didn't come without a cost. Just as Meili turned away, a lucky Thunder Punch hit her wing. Screaming in surprise and pain, Meili crashed into the sand. Machop made his way blindly towards the sound but Meili got away just before he could deliver the finishing blow.

A few seconds passed in silence. Machop furiously rubbed at its eyes to remove the sand while Meili panted and checked her wing.

"Up and to your left, Flamethrower." Blue ordered. His Machop snapped back to attention and shot a long stream of fire in Meili's general direction. She swerved and dove out the way then narrowly dodged a second Rock Tomb. All the while, Machop was buffeted by constant Gusts which threw him back and caused him to lose his footing. Machop finally fell and Meili took her chance. She circled around him and soon he was caught up in a Twister. Fire flew wildly around the room in a spiral until Machop was sent flying by Twister. He flew a few feet before limply skimming along the floor. He had fainted

Blue wordlessly returned his unconscious Pokémon and took a second red and white capsule from his belt.

"Abra!" He announced. Abra was a small yellow and brown creature that, much to Meili's annoyance, appeared to be sleeping.

"Are you even paying attention?" She asked, gliding closer. Abra cracked open an eye.

"For the most part." She yawned before raising a hand. A sparkling ray of light shot forward and Meili rolled to the side and sent down a Twister. Abra vanished.

"What?" Meili furiously looked about for Abra but was quickly struck by one of the sparkling light blasts. Colby caught sight of Abra vanishing from the corner of his eye just before a faint crack caught his attention. To his surprise, it was Abra preparing another attack.

"Dodge!" He called just as a third attack was used. Meili let herself drop a few feet so the blast just grazed her plumage.

"Meili! I can hear it teleport! Maybe we ... Dodge!" This time Meili's left wing got hit and she was forced to land. "Maybe we should swap!" Colby finished. Meili glared at where the last attack had come from and reluctantly nodded. She made her way to Colby, her feathers on her right wing too ruffled to properly fly.

Colby took her place, his ears pricked, whiskers twitching and even his sensitive nose ready to pick up Abra's location. He heard a shift of sand to his left and tried to turn that way. His legs were still badly bruised from Machop though, so just as he caught sight of Abra, she was already vanishing. This wasn't going to be easy.

Colby threw himself to the side. His whiskers had picked up something suddenly moving and, sure enough, a Dazzling Gleam rushed past. He turned, but this time Abra was too far away. She was just going to stay out of range unless he did something, but what could he do?

He limped towards one side of the arena. He didn't rush, just in case Abra or Blue worked out his plan. Coming to rest several metres from the corner, he waited. His eyes darted across the field and he spotted Abra more than once. She didn't attack though, since Colby would most likely see an attack being prepared from his position and could easily dodge. If she wanted to surprise him then there was only a few places she could go. Soon enough, she tried.

Abra appeared just by the wall, slightly out of Colby's line of sight and still rather far away. Colby took his chance.

He focused on his legs and soon he was dashing at Abra at speeds he could never normally reach. The Quick Attack even allowed him to ignore the pain in his legs so he reached his opponent just as she telekinetically blasted him. Colby powered through and Abra rather pathetically fell over. She scrambled back, her eyes glowing, but Colby jumped again and bit her arm. The pain caused her to lose concentration and she weakly tried to tug her limb free.

"Iron Tail." Blue advised his struggling Pokémon. A second later, Colby was struck in the side hard enough to send him rolling away and Abra escaped. She reappeared as far away from Colby as she could get and looked over her arm.

"I sleep on this side." She complained. Colby felt a little guilty, even as a drop of blood dripped from a fang. Not for too long, however, as he was forced to dodge another Psychic and then a Dazzling Gleam. he noticed the attacks were coming faster and before long it became clear that she wanted to bring him more into the centre of the arena.

Colby panicked. He wouldn't stand a chance if that were to happen. Another burst of speed brought him back to the wall once more, but his legs stung in protest at the sudden movement. Walking was quickly becoming excruciating.

Abra stopped for the moment but Colby didn't dare take his eyes off of the crafty psychic for a moment.

An Iron Tail struck him in the stomach.

Colby fell back to four paws, wheezing heavily, but a Psychic quickly knocked him sideways. He instinctively bit at where the attacks had come and just missed Abra's foot.

She reappeared over the other side of the arena and vanished just as quickly.

"Right!" Meili shouted. Colby Quick Attacked in that direction and struck a surprised Abra. This time he locked his teeth around her torso and clung on. An Iron Tail swung around and smacked one of his already bruised legs. He almost screamed, but kept biting down even as his legs buckled beneath him.

The next thing Colby knew, he felt as if his physical body had vanished – leaving just his consciousness. The world quickly returned to normal with the two now on the other side of the arena.

The battle soon became a rapid series of Teleports, Iron Tails and Psychic blasts as Colby vigorously shook his head and swung Abra about. Both were losing energy fast and it was unclear which of them would collapse first. Eventually, however, Abra made a mistake. She teleported to where they had started and a jerk of Colby's head caused her to fall back and slam her head against the wall. Colby let go as she flopped to the ground and was returned.

It had been a close and brutal battle, but Colby had won.

"Yes! You did it!" Shouted Meili, gliding over as the gathered trainers applauded. She wrapped him in her wings. Colby returned the hug, his excitement overriding the fear he normally experienced.

"That was brilliant!" Meili cried as she stepped away.

"Thanks." Colby returned to all fours but yelped as the leg that Abra had struck exploded in pain again. As he looked down, he realised that the limb in question was bruised and swollen. It felt as if the bone beneath was damaged.

Meili's eyes widened when she saw it.

"Wow. Are you okay?" She asked.

"I don't think I can walk on it." Colby admitted. To be honest, this worried him. He knew humans could heal wounds, but he didn't know how quickly. Would this delay their journey?

"I guess you won the Earth Badge, although I don't know what you want to do with it."

The two friends turned to see Blue drop something on the floor. Meili rushed over to it and pulled it towards Colby for them to admire.

It was mostly green, with a small brown extension that made it look somewhat like a tree. To be honest, it wasn't very impressive but their eyes still sparkled at the sight of it.

"Take that." Meili whispered. "We did it."

"Good job, you two." Said Zahra. The trainer walked over as the crowd dispersed. She knelt next to them. "Do you want something for that Badge?"

Colby stared down at it. They really had nothing to do with the tiny pin. After all, they couldn't exactly carry it.

"If you have something." He said, nodding so the human could understand. Zahra reached into a Pocket and withdrew a long piece of fabric.

"It's a scarf." She explained, picking up the Earth Badge. "I figured if you want to get any more then this could carry all of them.". She attached the badge and tied it around Colby's neck so it the badge was right next to the knot. "There we go."

Colby pulled at the green fabric. It was a little uncomfortable but he supposed he would get used to it.

"Now, let's get you to a Pokémon Centre. That leg looks bad."

Zahra sat with them at the Pokémon centre. The nurse had sprayed Colby's leg and bandaged it up, she claimed it would be mostly healed within a few hours. Colby was impressed. It would normally have taken a few weeks for that injury to heal.

Zahra brought along Natu so, through her translations, they were having a somewhat slow conversation.

"I never thought that Pokémon would want to get captured." Zahra was saying. "Still, though. I've never heard of any challenging a gym. Are you going to try get another badge?"

"Probably." Said Meili, admiring the pin on Colby's scarf.

Once Natu relayed what was said, Zahra asked, "Well, do you know where the next one is?"

When Meili shook her head, Zahra got up and walked to something on the wall. Colby and Meili followed.

"This is a map." She explained, pointing to a circled dot. "This is where we are. I'm guessing you came from over here." She moved her finger to a line "And the next gym is here." She indicated another dot. "It's just through the forest."

"Okay..." Said Meili, looking closely at the map. "That doesn't seem too far."

Zahra glanced down at them, "Actually, while you're in Viridian Forest would you mind doing something for me?"

"What is it?" Asked Meili, tilting her head to make the question obvious.

"You see, as well as being a gym trainer I'm training to become a ranger. Recently, though, we've had some trouble with wild Pokémon attacking traveling trainers. Some trainers have actually been hurt pretty bad. The rangers can't seem to work out why.". She took a Pokédex out of her pocket and began to scroll through it. "I was just hoping that, if you see one of these Pokémon, you could ask then why," She turned the device around to show them a picture of a small yellow Pokémon with bright red cheeks and an angular tail.

"I guess we could." Said Meili, peering at the image. Colby wasn't so sure. Seeking out hostile Pokémon didn't sound like a good idea to him. It was too late though as, after Natu relayed Meili's response, Zahra smiled.

"Thanks. It's just that I figured you'd have more luck what with being wild. Most Pokémon centres have a ranger stationed at them so you can just tell the one in Pewter City and they'll get it back to me. They'll have a Pokémon that can translate for you."

"Sounds easy enough." Said Meili. "We'll do it."

Colby was already uneasy. But he would soon come to regret not speaking up.

AN

And that's the first gym done. This section was kind of a tutorial and after this I can get into the actual plot. Viridian forest will be fun.

Thank you to everyone who has followed and favourited this so far. I don't like asking for reviews, but I'm going to anyway. Any thoughts you have, be them likes, dislikes, criticisms, hopes, requests or short poems, are greatly appreciated. There's nothing more motivating than recieving a review. If you don't want to, though, then just favouriting or following is still wonderful.

Thanks also to vaguekiwi for beta reading this. Still awesome!

Well, untill next chapter!


	11. Chapter 11: Mice

Esme rolled to the side. A blinding flash of lightning cracked past her, striking a bush which luckily didn't catch fire. Esme focused on the power under her ears and let a slither of the energy slip out, hurling the offending Pikachu backward.

"What's your problem?" Esme demanded, coating her tail with metallic energy to smack away a second Pikachu, only to be shocked by a third closing in.

"You're a threat!" Growled the first Pikachu, running at her with Quick Attack.

"You're the ones attacking _us_! We were just trying to get through the forest!" Esme shot off an Energy Ball. "We would have just left you alone!"

"We can't know that!"

"We have more important things to do than threaten a bunch of mindless rats!"

Esme knew that she probably shouldn't aggravate them anymore, but she was too annoyed by the wild Pokémon to care. She almost couldn't believe they had the gall to assume they were threats, but she supposed she shouldn't be surprised. The wild Pokémon hadn't been raised by humans, after all.

"To be fair, we didn't plan on bothering you."

Esme glanced up where Benu was darting around bolts of electricity, surprised but still grateful for her teammate's support.

Benu growled and dodged another bolt, wings flapping rapidly as he spat at the Pikachu: "Although, if Eleanor had taken a liking to one of you then we probably would have beaten you to within an inch of your life – and they forced you to do the same to other Pokémon for sport! You never know with these things."

"That's not helping!" Esme hissed. A few of the Pikachu let out cries of outrage at Benu's statement and redoubled their attacks.

Benu sneered, "It's true, though."

Benu dove down and smacked a few Pikachu with his wings shining.

"If we had captured one, it wouldn't be as bad as you make it out to be."

Esme rushed over to where Eleanor was hiding and blasted back a few more Pikachu.

"I thought the rangers were meant to handle things like this?" The girl whispered.

A ball of poison exploded amongst the mass of yellow and Sting buzzed over.

Sting buzzed, "That should poison a few of them. Hopefully they'll be scared off."

Sure enough, a few of the Pikachu desperately rubbed at the steaming sludge and ran off.

"Espurr, set up a Light Screen!" Benu shouted. Esme almost protested at his deliberate use of her species instead of her name but hurriedly did as he asked. Her teammates knocked away any Pikachu that looked like they would try to stop her. She focused on creating a protective wall, shifted her ears again and a translucent barrier appeared in front of her and Eleanor. Afterwards, Benu and Sting hurried to join them.

"We should go." Sting said, looking back nervously at the throng of Pikachu. Benu was already flapping away from Esme, she tugged at the quivering leg of her trainer to get Eleanor to follow. The group sprinted away but only made it a few feet before a weakened flash of lightning came through Esme's shield and struck Eleanor in the back.

"Eleanor!" Esme shrieked as her trainer fell forward. Turning back to the Pikachu, she snarled. She longed to go back, to wipe those smirks off those savages faces.

"I'm okay." Came a weak voice. Shakily, Eleanor got back to her feet. "Come on."

Esme looked at her friend in relief. With one last furious hiss at the Pikachu, she began to run.

A moment later, the Light Screen broke and the Pikachu gave chase.

Colby never thought that he would feel intimidated in a forest. After all, he had grown up in one. But that was all before he'd seen Viridian forest.

Where Colby's home was bright and vibrant, Viridian forest was dark and overgrown.

Meili didn't seem to mind as she excitedly chattered about their battles and what they would do next.

"I wasn't expecting that trick with the rocks." She was saying. "Like, how does that even work? You can't just make rocks fly out of the ground!"

"You can make twisters with your wings." Colby pointed out.

"Yeah, but I can fly. That grey guy could just punch things. I don't even think he was a rock type. Anyway, thanks for warning me about that."

Meili met his eyes and Colby looked away, a little embarrassed.

"It's okay. You did the same for me."

"I don't know if I needed to, though." Said Meili. "You were doing just fine yourself."

Colby looked down.

"I was just throwing myself at it whenever I heard it."

"You always do this." Meili complained. "You should _brag_ a little. You out-thought a psychic and then slammed her head into a wall!"

Colby smiled. He hadn't exactly liked the battle. He thought he had been too aggressive and hurt the other Pokémon too much. He could still taste the blood in his mouth from both Machop and Abra. Not to mention how much battling hurt. His leg still stung from the vivid bruising that would probably stick around for a while. Still, hearing Meili compliment him was nice.

Meili suddenly landed in front of him, forcing him to stop in his tracks. She looked into his eyes.

"You did great out there, Colby. Just take a moment to revel in the glory of victory!"

Colby grinned a little at how cheesy that sounded, but decided to go along with it.

"I guess I surprised her, didn't I?"

Meili laughed.

"You didn't see the look on her face. She did _not_ expect you to react so quickly."

To Colby's disappointment, she took off once more. He found that he felt a lot more comfortable around her when she was grounded.

"And then you started biting her. Remind me to never make you angry, because that looked like it hurt."

"I think you'd be safe." laughed Colby. "You're a Pidgeotto."

"That doesn't mean anything." Meili insisted. Colby frowned a little at her more subdued tone. He hadn't meant to remind her of his irrational fear. He decided to change the subject.

"That twister was impressive, though."

"Oh yeah!" Meili immediately brightened up. "I think I outdid myself with that!"

The two friends continued like this for most of the day, chattering about their shared experiences and anything else that flowed into the conversation. The two were perfectly happy just talking like this for hours. Colby found himself relaxing, reminded why they wanted to go on an adventure in the first place. Sure, sometimes it could be hard and sometimes it could be painful but Colby soon found himself enjoying exploring the forest, they kept their eyes peeled to spot one of the yellow Pokémon Zahra had asked them to find.

In the evening, Meili went hunting while Colby looked for a berry bush or something. He didn't have much luck, the only one he found was mostly devoid of fruit. Still, he took what he could and enjoyed them for what they were worth.

"Score!" Said a muffled voice from behind him. Colby turned to see Meili drop an orange fish Pokémon on the leaf-strewn ground.

"There's a pond nearby." She explained, looking down at the Magikarp with hunger in her eyes. "And where there's water, there's Karp."

"Well done." Colby murmured, focusing on his own meal. He couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the Magikarp and didn't really want to watch Meili rip into the thing. It was too much of a reminder of the predator his friend now was.

Since Colby didn't have much to begin with, he ended up finishing faster than Meili. He decided to kill time by gnawing on a nearby tree. After a while, he noticed that Meili had gone quiet. Looking up, he found her delicately preening a wing, the remains of the Magikarp nearby. He bit down into the wood again, but found his eyes flitting back to the half-eaten fish. His stomach grumbled a little. Those berries really hadn't been very filling.

"Um, Meili?" He asked, stepping away from the tree. Meili looked up.

"Yeah?"

"Are you going to eat that?"

Meili glanced over at the remains of the Magikarp.

"Wasn't planning on it. Those bits are horrible." A few seconds passed in silence as Colby fidgeted with his tail. "Um, why?"

"Well... Can I have it? It's just that I couldn't find much on the ground, and..."

Meili looked at him in disbelief.

"You want to eat that?" She asked. Colby nodded, his nose twitching.

"Well, if you want to."

Colby gratefully scurried over to the remains and finished them off. He'd eaten a lot worse.

"Do you remember which way we're meant to be going?" Colby asked once he was done. He noticed that Meili had been looking away from him while he ate and now she glanced back at him.

"I think so..." She trailed off, her eyes closed in thought. "Home is that way." She murmured gesturing her wing in a seemingly random direction. Colby didn't question it. He knew Meili's sense of direction was only rivaled by others of her species. "I think that that means the city was back there." Meili continued. "Which means we need to go that way." She finished triumphantly, turning to indicate north. "Or at least, somewhere 'round there." She added.

"You should be able to see it, right?" Colby asked.

"If it's not too far." Meili confirmed. "I'll check tomorrow."

The next morning, after Colby poked her awake, Meili did just that. After about half an hour or so, during which Colby sniffed out some food, she returned looking both concerned and excited.

"I think it's a lot further than we thought." She admitted. "I couldn't see it and I went quite high."

Colby flicked his tail in concern. "But we still know where to go, right?"

"Hopefully. I just don't know how far it is. We could miss it."

"We could just ask the local Pokémon as we get closer." Colby offered.

"That was the other thing!" Meili exclaimed. "I saw one of those little yellow guys not too far off."

"Really! Where?"

"Follow me!" Meili took off in a flurry of feathers. Colby rushed after her.

Eventually, Meili landed and Colby scampered up beside her. She appeared to be looking through a bush so Colby poked his head through as well.

"You see it?" She whispered.

"Yeah." he murmured back. The yellow mouse, which Zahra had called a Pikachu, was currently nibbling at some fruits on a bush.

"So, how do you want to do this?" Meili asked.

"What do you mean?". Colby gave her a confused look.

"Well, do we just go up and ask or...?"

"Couldn't we ask him for directions?" Colby asked. "He'd probably know the way."

"Other Pokémon can give us directions." Meili hissed. "These ones have been attacking people!"

Colby winced at the reminder. "Well, should we even do this then?"

"We said we would.". Meili eyed the Pikachu. "Now, I was thinking of intimidatingly descending from the sky and demanding answers."

"Probably wouldn't work." Remarked the Pikachu.

Meili started. She attempted to take flight but got caught in the bush. She desperately flapped to free herself which proved fruitless as she tumbled down the other side, her carefully aligned feathers now ruffled.

Nothing was said for a few seconds as Colby was fixed in place from the surprise of the Pikachu talking and the Pikachu just stared at Meili in disbelief. Finally, the Pikachu burst out laughing. Colby rushed over to Meili as she picked herself up.

"Are you okay?", He asked.

"For the most part." She grumbled, pulling a leaf from her wing.

"Would you stop that!" She snapped a moment later, glaring across the clearing at the hysterical Pikachu.

"Hey! You're the one who was planning to interrogate me." He scampered over. "So, what is it? He looked down at Colby's scarf. "Is your trainer looking for a Pikachu or something?"

Meili was still pulling twigs from her feathers so Colby took it upon himself to talk to the fellow rodent.

"Oh, no. We don't have a trainer. We just needed to ask you if... uh... Do you know the way to the human city?"

"Never mind that!" Meili interjected. "Why have you been attacking people!"

The Pikachu stared at her blankly for a moment before his eyes widened.

"Oh, that!" he exclaimed. "That's not me. I know what you mean, though."

"Well?"

The Pikachu sat back, looking slightly irritated.

"Some of my species have been getting full of themselves lately. You see, our population has been getting rather large but, instead of some of us migrating, a few morons decided it would just be better to attack humans to claim more territory."

"Didn't know they even had any in the forest." said Meili.

"We count the path."

"The path?"

"I know." The Pikachu rolled his eyes. "They're ridiculous. Anyway, why do you want to know?"

Meili and Colby glanced at each other, unsure if they should say that a human had asked them.

"We just heard about it and were wondering." Meili said lamely.

The group lapsed into silence once more.

"Do you know the way to the city though?" Colby piped up.

"Oh, yeah. Which one?"

Meili waved a wing toward Viridian. "The one that's not that way."

"Oh, well..." The Pikachu began before trailing off. "You go that way for a while and then there's a stream which you follow to a really big tree and... It's really hard to describe. I guess there's like a big ditch?"

Meili blinked in confusion as Colby tried to commit that to memory.

"We walk that way, follow a river and find a ditch?" She asked blankly.

"Not quite." The Pikachu rubbed the back of his head. "It's hard to give directions when you're in a forest."

"Are we at least close?"

"No."

The Pikachu's flat response caused the two friends look at each other, both of their expressions uneasy. Even with Meili scouting ahead they could easily miss the city if they long enough to make a wrong turn.

"How long would it take?" Meili asked, sounding a little more cautious now.

"I'd say a week. Why, do you need to get their quickly?"

"We just need to get there at all." Meili gave the Pikachu a contemplative look. "Don't suppose you could show us the way?"

Before he could answer, Colby added.

"We could probably get there on our own, though." He didn't want to force him. The Pikachu, however, just smiled at them.

"Sure, I could show you. I've got nothing better to do. Anyway, I can keep you away from those psychos attacking people."

Colby was about to ask him if he was sure but Meili let out a trill of happiness and fluttered towards the Pikachu.

"Thanks!" She hopped excitedly from one foot to the other, animosity forgotten. "You have no idea how much that helps!"

Colby just nodded and murmured his thanks.

"It's no problem. It will be nice to have something to do." Pikachu turned, glancing back at them as he headed off. "Do you want to go now, then?" He asked.

"Shouldn't you tell someone where you're going?" Colby asked, hurrying to keep up with him.

"They won't mind.". He waved dismissively. "Now come on. We might find the river by the end of the day if we hurry."

And so they continued, now with a temporary new traveling companion who they both ended up getting along with quite well. Rese, as he introduced himself, turned out to be rather easygoing in nature. He and Meili were soon talking enthusiastically about the forest and even Colby found himself joining in on the conversation.

It was fun. Colby found that he was enjoying this much more than their time in the Viridian Gym. Perhaps this journey wouldn't be as difficult as he had thought.


	12. Chapter 12: Cull

"What are you two doing, then?" asked Rese, coming to walk beside Colby. Meili had flown ahead for the moment.

"We're just trying to reach the next city." Said Colby, giving Rese a confused look. The Pikachu rolled his eyes.

"I get that. But you're wearing a scarf _but_ claim to be wild, and you're trying to reach a human city through an area that you're not native to. You don't exactly blend in."

"We're..." Colby paused, not sure how to explain this to the Pikachu. After all, he had only found out about the gyms from his father, who had experience with humans. "We're on a journey. Me and Meili wanted to go with a trainer for ages but never got caught so we … left on our own."

Rese looked interested. "So you're doing the trainer thing without a trainer? I've actually considered going with one before."

"Really?" Colby had been under the impression that he and Meili were rather unusual for wanting a trainer.

"It would probably be better than here. I sometimes don't know what's worse, the bugs or the other Pikachu."

Colby thought over that for a few seconds. Perhaps Rese could come with them? The plan had been for it to be just be him and Meili but, looking at it now, they probably wouldn't get too far like that. Rese seemed nice enough and, despite Meili's initial dislike, had gotten along well with both of them. Colby was about to offer when Rese interrupted his train of thought.

"I also meant to ask: what's with you and Meili?"

"What?" Colby demanded, whipping his head around to face Rese.

"You don't seem afraid of her."

"Oh. Well, We've been friends since she was a Pidgey."

"That explains a little. Still," Rese gave Colby a conspiratorial smile, "Your relationship must be something special to get over that."

Looking down, Colby mumbled, "I try to not let it get to me." He fell silent before adding, "How come you're not afraid?"

"I don't need to be. Electricity hurts birds, so most just learn to stay away."

Thinking back to their last week of training, he remembered Meili being told something about being careful around electric types. He found himself rather envious of the Pikachu beside him. If only Colby's species had some kind of advantage over their predators like that, maybe he wouldn't be afraid of his best friend now. Then again, maybe Meili would have just stayed away and the two would have never met.

"What's that about birds?" Demanded a voice from overhead as Meili came swooping down.

Rese grinned, "Just explaining why us Pikachu don't need to be afraid of you."

"Really?" Meili asked, narrowing her eyes. Rese was more than happy to respond. He crossed his arms.

"Sure. You ever even been hit by electricity?"

"Sure have. It didn't even hurt." She raised the wing that had been Thunder Punched the previous day. Colby could still remember Meili's shriek of pain from that particular hit and took a step back. He knew his friend enough to know she would want to prove she could take on the Pikachu.

"Obviously a weak attack. How about I show you what real electricity feels like?"

"You know what" Meili fluttered off the ground. "Hit me!"

Colby sighed. Deciding to let them get on with it, he slipped away into the underbrush to search for some oran berries for when one of them inevitably got hurt. Soon the battle was reduced to a few faint sounds accompanied by distant flashes. Colby took this opportunity to relax. The last week had hardly given him a moment to himself so he relished the opportunity. As he started to chew on a nearby tree, his thoughts drifted toward the Pikachu. He had feared Rese a bit at first. What Zahra told them still stuck with Colby, but he found it difficult to relate the reports of aggressive Pokémon to the friendly and open mouse they had met. He definitely wouldn't mind if Rese were to join and, if the sounds of the distant battle were anything to go by, Meili would appreciate a traveling companion who relished combat as much as she did.

"There's one." Said something.

Colby froze. That had been a human. For a brief moment, Colby thought that they were talking about him but, as he turned, he found the speaker was looking towards the distant battle.

The human appeared to be male, with short blond hair under an orange and black cap. His clothes were light and airy, cargo pants and a tight shirt, easy to move in. Colby found himself most fascinated by an array of mechanical objects along the man's belt. Beside him, and looking up at its trainer with a displeased look in its crimson eyes, stood a golden nine-tailed fox. The man said something and Colby walked closer in time to catch his Pokémon's reply.

"I still say that this isn't what we signed up for." Of course, the human failed to understand her exact meaning but still responded.

"I don't like it either, but the higher ups say this cull is best. They're becoming a real threat, apparently."

The pair continued onward but Colby had stopped paying attention.

That word, cull, was familiar to him. Unbidden, memories of the winter before he met Meili burst before his eyes.

He and his siblings being ushered into the burrow; some of the older Rattata demanding to know what was going on as Colby curled up against the back wall. Overhearing his father and grandmother talking about some disease that the humans were worried about and, after a few weeks, re-emerging to a forest of far fewer Sentret than he remembered.

Apparently, the Sentret had been catching a new disease and the humans decided to deal with that before it got out of hand. Colby never learned what had become of the Sentret, but looking back now it wasn't hard to guess.

But why were they talking about it now? Colby pulled himself to the present to look after the retreating form of the human and his Pokémon. If they were carrying out a cull, then one species in this forest was at risk.

"Rese!" Colby whispered and shot off. The pair weren't going that fast. If he used his Quick Attack he could probably reach the clearing before them and get his friends to hide.

And reach it he did. But it was too late. A second human emerged from behind a tree in the clearing. She was dressed similarly to the man and carried a grey cylindrical device in one hand.

"Run!" Colby tried to scream, but the words never formed. He had caught sight of a monstrous black canine Pokémon beside the woman and, predictably, froze in place. Colby would never regret anything more.

The woman's device jolted with a crack. Rese only had time to turn his head towards the sound before something tore through him and he dropped.

Colby could only mouth the Pikachu's name in horror as the scene continued to unfold.

Meili abandoned the attack she had been preparing and was left staring at her suddenly downed opponent, her face unmoving.

"Rese?"

She landed and took a step forward. Her eyes followed the splatter of blood in growing horror which shifted to rage when the woman stepped into the open.

"You!" In a sudden burst of motion, Meili threw herself at the woman. Her horned Pokémon unleashed a fireball and the man Colby had followed launched a disk leading a stream of white light toward her. Neither of these things stopped Meili.

A second crack rang out and Meili let out a screech of pain and fury and tumbled to the forest floor.

It was only now that Colby could will himself to move. He rushed towards Meili. With a burst of energy, he slipped into Quick Attack and a second later he was beside his fallen friend and checking for her heartbeat. It was there, but faint. The shot appeared to have gone through her wing, possibly breaking it.

Rese, however... Rese was dead.

"Celia, what was _that_?" Asked the man, stepping out from the tree line with his partner. He and his Pokémon glared at the woman. "We're only meant to be going for the Pikachu."

"I panicked!" The woman put away her smoking cylinder. "It attacked me."

"And what's your capture styler for?" demanded the man, catching the disk and holding it up with the device it had come from. The woman grimaced, her hand falling to an identical device on her belt. "I just didn't think."

"Well, you've just shot a trainer's Pokémon."

"What?"

"Look at the Rattata."

Upon noticing Colby's scarf, the blond woman gasped.

"You don't think the Pikachu was also..."

The man strolled over and knelt beside Meili saying "Let's hope not. We told trainers to keep their Pikachu recalled for now so you might be lucky. Still, we should deal with this and get out of here."

Reaching into his backpack, he pulled out a bottle and aimed it at Meili. Colby went to block his friend from view.

"Don't worry, this will help." Assured the man but Colby wasn't ready to listen to reason. A soft growl found its way out his throat causing the man to reach for the disk launching device again.

"I won't harm your friend." The disk drifted out once more and started to rotate around Colby. As a circle of white began to form, Colby began to calm down. Meili would be okay. The man had a potion that would heal the wound. His job was ... His job was to help Pokémon? This last one confused Colby a little. It conflicted with what he had seen from the uniformed humans so far. It didn't matter though. For whatever reason, Colby now fully trusted the man in front of him.

"Thank you." the man said as Colby stepped aside. Catching the disk in one hand, he began to spray Meili's wounded wing with the bottle. Meili shifted a little, but remained unconscious.

"Where's your trainer?"

Colby jumped and looked around to see the black dog peering down at him.

"Wha ... what?" Colby squeaked, eying the Pokémon's constantly bared teeth.

"Your trainer. You obviously have one. Where are they?"

"Oh ..." Colby thought. What if they were only helping because they didn't know they were wild? He decided not to risk it. "He's a bit over that way. We... uh... we wandered off a bit."

"Well then." The black dog sat down. "Hopefully he won't be back soon. It wouldn't do to have people finding out that rangers are shooting Pokémon, let alone trained ones."

Colby's eyes were drawn towards Rese's body before he averted his gaze, his breath catching in his throat. He felt several long, soft objects loosely wrap around him. The smooth, feminine voice of the fox said,

"Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. We're rangers. Daniel and I didn't sign up to be killers."

"You know why we're doing it."

Their conversation quickly became background noise to Colby as he watched Daniel the ranger. He had finished with the potion and was wrapping a bandage around Meili's body, holding the wing in place. Meili wouldn't be flying any time soon, that much was obvious. Colby found himself wondering if she would ever fly again. The thought made him feel sick. Remembering how light and carefree Meili appeared when in flight, he could only imagine how much of a blow the loss would be.

"That's about all I can do for now." Daniel stated, carefully positioning Meili on her uninjured side and standing up. "We need to get going."

"What about their trainer?" Celia asked. Her eyes flitted to Colby's scarf once more.

"They'll be confused, but it's probably for the best they don't find out it was us. Hopefully they'll keep the bandage on until they can get to a centre."

"I guess."

Walking over to Rese, Celia took out a bag. As Colby watched in dismay, she placed the broken body inside and tied it shut. He wanted to stop her, to save the body, but didn't want to leave Meili's side. Not that he could have done anything with the two more powerful Pokémon present.

Then the rangers departed. The clearing was suddenly very quiet. A slight breeze shifted leaves overhead and the chirps of far off bug-types occasionally drifted from the darkness, but all Colby could hear was the rapid beating of his heart and his roaring blood. His gaze lingered, unfocussed, over his friend's stillness and on the spot where the two orange and black-clad humans had vanished.

He soon set about moving Meili. After some effort, he had carefully pushed her to the cover of a bush. It was only then that he curled up and decided to get some rest, sobbing gently until unconsciousness crept over his mind.


	13. Chapter 13: In the depths of Viridian

It was still dark when Meili awoke. Colby was curled closer to his friend than he would usually be comfortable with so he felt as much as heard her jolt from sleep. He rolled away, embarrassed, and scampered around to face her.

"Meili?" He asked softly, so as not to startle her.

"Colby? What... What happened? My wing hurts?" She tried to rise but Colby stood on his hind legs and placed a forepaw on her side to stop her.

"I don't think you should move. Your wing is broken."

"Broken!" She exclaimed, but never the less stopped squirming. "When did it break? All I remember is …"

She started to move again, this time much more frantically.

"Rese! What happened to Rese!"

"It was the rangers."

Meili opened her beak to ask something else but stopped.

"Rangers? Like, who Zahra was working for?"

Colby nodded.

"But ... What were they doing? Colby, what happened?"

"They killed ..." Colby stopped to compose himself as his throat tightened. The memory of Rese dropping as Colby watched, prevented from helping only by his own fear, was painful. "They killed Rese. They were culling the Pikachu in the forest and saw your battle."

"Oh." Meili looked down at her talons. Neither knew what to say next, so they remained silent for a minute. Eventually, Meili said

"I remember attacking them and then I think I passed out. What happened then? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Colby assured her. "They weren't meant to attack you. They thought you had a trainer because of my scarf so they patched you up but then left pretty quickly."

Meili took in her bandages, just noticing the long strips of cloth wrapped around her body and binding one wing to her side.

"How bad was my wing?" She asked.

"I think it was broken. It possibly had a hole in it, I'm not sure."

"Do you think it will still work?"

"They said to keep the bandages on and to get to a Pokémon Centre." Colby deliberately avoided answering her question. He honestly didn't know.

Silence fell once more.

"I guess they took Rese?"

"Yeah. They did."

"Why would they do that, though? We were going to find out what was wrong! Zahra could have said something to stop this!"

"I don't know. Maybe things changed."

Meili looked up to fix Colby with a stare. Her eyes were filled with fury.

"What could that be, though? What would make them just go and ... and _kill_ Pikachu? It's like they don't care."

Colby resisted the urge to step away.

"We should sleep."

Meili looked as if she was ready to go find the rangers herself, but then she slumped. Her energy drained away.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." She said, looking down at her wing once more. She stumbled over to a large root that was sticking out of the ground and perched atop it. Colby returned to the bush to hide himself under the branches.

"Night." He said.

"Night." Meili replied, her voice hollow.

Meili was already awake when Colby came to: although Colby doubted she slept at all after their conversation. She was pacing around the clearing, stumbling as she went. Only using one wing was clearly affecting her balance.

She greeted him but otherwise remained quiet. Colby couldn't blame her. He didn't feel much like talking either, so he bid her good morning and slipped away. They needed to eat and, with Meili mostly out of action, it would now fall to him to find their food.

He returned soon, having found enough oran berries for the two of them. He sought them out specifically, figuring they could help Meili's wing, and dragged them back on a large leaf.

Meili appeared to perk up a little when she saw the food.

"Thanks. I'm starving."

Colby smiled at her and let her eat her fill. As she did, he asked.

"Where do we go now?"

Meili snapped up another berry before replying

"That way." She gestured with her good wing.

Colby frowned slightly.

"Isn't that the way we were going before? Don't you think we should go back?"

"No!"

Colby jumped. He hadn't expected Meili to snap like that. Seeing this, she lowered her tone slightly.

"We shouldn't go back there."

"Why?"

"I don't want to see Zahra again." Colby was surprised to hear the anger in her voice. When she turned her stare back to him, Colby could see that a spark had re-entered her eyes. But this wasn't the usual spark of enthusiasm. This was anger.

"She's one of the rangers. She's at least partially to blame for what happened. We need to go on, Colby. We need to get through here, keep beating gyms and getting stronger."

Colby disagreed. Suddenly, the gyms didn't seem important. Bringing one paw to the badge on his scarf, he found the idea of traveling no longer exciting to him. It was just frightening. Not that he'd say that to Meili. She seemed set on becoming strong enough to fight the rangers now, and Colby could hardly blame her. They'd appeared completely unaware of the pain their actions were causing. But Colby could still remember that floating disk Daniel had used, how it made him feel. He had been given the sense that what the rangers had been doing was just what they thought was right. They were only trying to help. Maybe it had just manipulated and deceived him, but it still meant that Colby couldn't muster up the same righteous anger as Meili.

Meili's mood didn't improve much over the next few days. When she wasn't sullen and unresponsive, she seemed angry and irritable. While this was never directed at Colby, much to his relief, it still made him uneasy. He knew she wouldn't be back to normal until she could fly once more, and even then the events of that evening would probably scar them both permanently. One afternoon, he brought up the idea of backtracking once more.

"We've gone over this," She snapped just after he suggested it. "We're heading on."

"But we don't know how far the next city is! You _need_ to get to a Pokémon Centre!"

"I don't want to!"

"But ... We don't even know the way. You can't fly ahead any more."

"Thanks to you." Meili murmured. Her voice was soft, but Colby's sensitive ears picked it up all the same.

"What?" He stared, eyes wide, at his friend. She wasn't even looking at him.

Meili turned on him, "You saw what happened, didn't you? Well, why didn't I see you? What were you doing?"

"I ... I ..." Colby moved back.

"And now, because of that, Rese is dead! I have a broken wing and we're stuck here until we get lucky and find the next city."

Colby gritted his teeth. He knew that she didn't mean it and that she was just frustrated about being grounded, but it didn't make the anger in her voice any easier to bear.

"I'm sorry." Was all he could say before he retreated into the undergrowth. After all, he thought bitterly, running away was all he had ever been good at.

Meili stared after him for a while after he left, her features pulled into a scowl. Before too long, however, she seemed to come to her senses. A horrified expression fell across her face and she brought her good wing up to cover her beak.

"Well, now you've done it," she muttered before calling out:

"Colby!" There was no response. She wasn't really surprised. Colby could run fast when he wanted to.

"Colby!" She tried again. "I'm sorry!"

"Well, this is hilarious."

Meili spun about at the unfamiliar voice. A quick scan of the trees revealed the culprit, a green cocoon Pokémon hanging from a branch.

"Do you _want_ to be eaten?" She asked, eying it with disdain.

"Like you even could." Said the Pokémon, a Metapod if Meili remembered correctly.

"You can't even fly." It pointed out. To be honest, she probably wouldn't have gone for it anyway. The bugs had an annoying habit of making their shells too hard to penetrate and were often protected by Butterfree.

Meili began to walk away, not in the mood to deal with the Metapod just now, but it continued none the less.

"Not to mention how you just drove away the only Pokémon willing to help you."

"Yes, I get that."

"I mean, I don't even know why he was there to begin with. He obviously didn't want to be."

"Would you shut up?" She demanded, wanting nothing more than to pluck the smug Metapod from its branch and drop it from a very long way up. It was probably only doing this to get back at the members of her species that had hunted it all its life. And anyway, it probably only had the courage now because she couldn't fight back.

"You're only angry because you know it's true."

"I'm only angry because you're being a petty little coward." Meili kicked at the ground, hoping to get dust in the Metapod's eyes. It was too far away for that to work, but it still made her feel better.

"That Rattata is afraid of you. That's the only reason he was staying with you. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have run off. He didn't actually want to help you."

"You know I can still do this." Meili flapped her good wing to send a gust of air at the Metapod. It was much weaker than normal and the force sent her staggering back, but it was enough. The Metapod was nearly dislodged from its branch and quickly created a web to swing away.

Meili sighed, leaning up against a tree. She tried to forget about the Metapod. After all, it had just been trying to get under her skin. But its comments about Colby kept repeating themselves in her mind. The thought that she had been unknowingly forcing Colby to do this journey was deeply troubling.

Colby was just as enthusiastic about this journey as she was. They had both wanted this for over a year and, until recently, it had been just as they had expected it. Sure, it wasn't easy, but it was fun.

No, Colby was understandably upset over what she had said and was probably still in shock over what they had gone through. She should be more concerned about if he would come back.

At first, Colby could think about nothing but getting away from Meili. Not only was she angry at him, but she had also concluded that Rese's death and her broken wing were all his fault. He couldn't face her now.

When he finally stopped, short of breath and sobbing, he could bring himself to do nothing but curl up at the base of a tree.

Meili was right. He had seen an intimidating Pokémon and that was all it had taken to stop him from helping. He decided he wasn't cut out for this. If leaving home meant this much pain and terror, then he couldn't do it.

As if to accentuate this point, it was at that exact moment something sharp stabbed him in the side. Yelping, Colby pulled himself out from his hiding spot to find a tan worm rearing back to attack again. He desperately moved aside to avoid a second blow and tried to run away.

"Get away from the hive!" The bug demanded, blocking his path.

"I'm sorry." Colby pleaded, backing up. "I didn't mean to do anything. I'm leaving now."

"No."

"What?"

The bug grinned. "I think I'll make an example of you."

Colby was starting to panic. He wasn't in any state to battle just now, but he was being given no choice. He could feel a cold prickling spreading from the Weedle's first attack, so if he wanted to survive he needed this to be over quickly.

He tried to Tackle, but the Weedle easily dodged. Colby felt its horn jab into his side again, leaving a long gash. He stumbled but found his footing in time to clamp his teeth around the Weedle's neck. It struggled, hitting him futilely with its tail.

"Okay then." The Weedle hissed. "Let's see how you deal with the swarm." Colby's eyes widened. He could guess what "the swarm" was. He'd seen a few of the yellow and black Pokémon that Eleanor used against Blue, and those were the only things he could think of that would swarm.

Panicking, not wanted to let the Weedle call for help, he tried to knock it out by hitting its head against a tree. It didn't work. The Weedle was struggling too much.

Desperate, Colby bit down harder. His body was thrashing due to the poison and this translated into a greater strength than he had ever experienced before.

The Weedle choked, unable to form words. A moment later, Colby's teeth pierced its exo-skeleton and it fell limp, dropping from his jaw to the floor. It was dead.

Colby panted as the adrenalin continued to rush through his veins. The sounds of the forest were suddenly muffled, his vision was blurred and all he could focus on was the sight of the dead Weedle.

He couldn't bring himself to react. He just stared. The poison must be affecting his thinking, because all that came to mind was Meili.

She was probably hungry. After all, berries wouldn't be enough for a Pidgeotto. The idea of bringing the Weedle back to her presented itself, and so that's what he did.

Meili couldn't describe how relieved she felt when she saw her friend's familiar purple form emerge from the treeline.

"Colby!" she trilled, making her way towards him. "Look, I'm so sor ... What happened to you?!"

Colby appeared to have gotten into a fight. His pelt sported several slash and puncture wounds which were still bleeding. An amber liquid stained his fur, appearing to have come from the Weedle that he was dragging behind him. What worried Meili the most, though, was the look in his eyes. They appeared distant and clouded, it took him a moment to focus on her.

"Meili?" He slurred. "Here."

With one paw, he pushed the Weedle forward. Then, he promptly fainted.


	14. Chapter 14: Encounters

Colby felt terrible. When he woke up, his limbs seemed heavy and he was shaking. It took some willpower, but he managed to force his eyes open and found it was evening. After his vision cleared he saw Meili leaning against a tree nearby, her eyes closed.

He tried to speak, but only produced a faint croaking sound. He still managed to get Meili's attention. Her face lit up.

"Colby!"

She made her way over to him, asking: "How are you?"

Colby coughed before managing to respond.

"I feel ... not very good. It's like..."

He stopped. He had been trying to remember what got him into this situation, instead he recalled something else.

"Meili, I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Why are ... Oh." She stepped forward as if she wanted to hug him but stopped herself. She looked miserable.

"No, Colby. I'm sorry. What I said was... Well, I shouldn't have said it."

"You were right, though. I could have helped."

"You couldn't have. You would have gotten hurt and we would be in a worse situation than we are now."

"But –"

"Leave it. I should be apologising, not you."

Colby closed his eyes, mumbling "Okay." He didn't feel much better, but it was nice to know Meili didn't actually blame him.

"Anyway, what happened to you? I was expecting you to take off, which would have been totally understandable. Instead you return covered in blood and dragging a dead Weedle."

Colby dragged himself to a sitting position.

"A dead Weedle? What ... Oh yeah." The memory of the fight came back to him and he wanted to throw up.

"I ... I killed it."

Meili turned to him, surprise etched across her face.

"You killed it?"

"Yeah." Colby could felt a tear soaking the white fur on his face and desperately tried to rub it away. "It attacked me and threatened to call its swarm so I ... I _had_ to!"

This time Meili _did_ hug him, stepping forward and engulfing him in the soft feathers of her wing. Colby didn't tense up, which surprised them both. He actually found himself leaning into the embrace, although his face grew a little warm.

"You had to. Heck, you probably saved us."

"It's just ... It was horrible." Colby could still remember the feeling of his fangs sinking into the Weedle's neck. How it let out a desperate, gurgling rasp as it tried, in vain, to call the Beedrill.

"I know." Meili looked down at him and when Colby turned his frightened eyes upwards, their gaze met. "I felt the same when I first began to hunt. But, you see, we're on our own now. If we're going to survive in the wild we need to learn these things. That is," And it was at this point that she released Colby and took a few steps back, looking nervous. "If you still want to travel with me after... after all that's happened."

"I..." Colby started, but she cut him off. She was rambling now.

"I mean, this forest has been pretty horrible and I've been no help. I wouldn't blame you, but I don't think I could do this without you. It definitely wouldn't be the same."

"Meili."

Meili stopped herself, taking in a deep breath.

"I will stay with you." He spoke each word slowly, believing that if he didn't take care he would lose his nerve and abandon her.

"You will?"

"Sure." Colby gave a weak smile and nodded, even though deep in his chest he couldn't disagree more.

Traveling became slightly easier after that. By the end of the next day Colby was feeling back to normal, his body having filtered out the toxins, and they were on track to find the next city. Meili was making a conscious effort to keep her temper in check despite the slow progress they made. They would pick their way through the underbrush, trying to find the easiest possible rout for Meili. Occasionally, they would hear a distant crack of what must have been the continuing Pikachu cull. The first time this happened, their eyes met in the dark and a silent agreement passed between them that they would stay put. Neither of them liked it, but there was nothing they could do without getting hurt or possibly killed.

They traveled undisturbed for over a week. Luckily, the local bugs seemed to want to stay away from Meili, injured as she was, and any Rattata that saw Colby with a Pidgeotto just left them alone. This did not hold true, however, when they finally encountered more Pikachu.

They had been attempting to cross a river. Colby could swim the slow-moving waters with little effort but, obviously, things were not so easy for Meili. Their plan had been to find a human bridge or just a narrow part of the stream she could walk across. They were heading upriver when a mass of yellow ran from the darkness and formed a semi-circle around them. Their only escape was into the water and, looking at the sparks playing over the Pikachu's cheeks, they both knew that wouldn't end well.

"What are you doing?" Meili demanded, clacking her beak at a Pikachu who stood a little too close. It just rolled its eyes in response and let a small spark of energy travel to Meili, causing her to jump back with a yelp and almost lose her footing on the riverbank.

One of the yellow rats stepped forward and approached Colby, who backed away as far as he could. The Pikachu didn't attack though. He walked right up to Colby and, to his confusion and embarrassment, sniffed him. A second later, the Pikachu seemed satisfied. He stepped away and turned to the others, saying:

"It's faint, but there."

Colby started, "What are -"

"When did you see Rese?"

"Rese?" Colby squeaked, giving Meili a nervous glance. She also looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"Yes. I can smell him and..." The Pikachu circled them, starting to frown as he sniffed the two of them. "And blood." He finished. "He's dead, isn't he?"

Colby looked down while Meili just nodded. Upon seeing this, the Pikachu appeared to deflate. The leader flattened his ears against his head and asked

"What happened? We thought he would have escaped all this."

"Escaped?" Asked Colby.

"Yeah. He ran away a couple of weeks ago; something about our territory expansion. We'd hoped he'd gotten out of the forest before the killing started."

They hadn't known that. They had been aware he wasn't happy with his fellow Pikachu, but not that he was running away. Colby wondered if Rese would have been okay if they had just left him to travel unimpeded. But it was too late now.

"We were traveling with him for a few hours." Meili began. "A couple rangers found and killed him. They think you're a problem."

"We haven't been that bad." The lead Pikachu protested. "We've been driving them away from some areas sure, but we had to. There are ..." He grimaced "There are more humans here than ever."

"There was that one last week." Another pointed out.

"What?"

"That one with the pink can thing. You hit her in the back with a thunder shock!"

The leader frowned. "But she was fine."

"We don't know that, do we?"

"Did they have a Spearow with them?" Meili cut in.

"Yeah. How did you know?"

Meili gave Colby a knowing look.

"We may know them."

Eleanor had been attacked on her trip through the forest and had possibly been injured. Could that be related to the cull?

The Pikachu agreed to let them go after that, much to their relief. Colby and Meili wouldn't have stood a chance if it came to blows.

The Pikachu said the city was just along the river a ways. After two more long days of travel, they found it.

It was distinctly less impressive than Viridian city. Where Viridian had consisted of towering skyscrapers and streets packed with quickly moving people, Pokémon, and vehicles, Pewter consisted of squat stone structures separated by cobbled paths that were only just wide enough to fit the occasional car. Colby liked it, and not just because it meant the forest was behind them. It was quiet and the atmosphere felt more natural.

Meili didn't seem to notice as she bounded forwards.

"Come on! We're going to the centre, then finding the gym!"

Smiling slightly, Colby followed her. What they both failed to notice, was that they were being watched.

Two yellow eyes followed their retreat from the grass. The Pokémon reared up, revealing itself to be an Ekans slithering from its hiding spot.

"Interesting." It hissed. Flitting out its tongue to taste the air where Colby and Meili had been. Without another word, it headed toward the city.

The Pokémon Centre took some time for Colby and Meili to find. When Meili spotted the red building she eagerly hopped inside. Colby expected her to go right up to the desk and demand to be seen, but instead she froze in place, her eyes fixed on a figure in the corner.

"What is it?" Asked Colby catching up and following her gaze. He gasped – it was Celia, the ranger.

"Let's go." Growled Meili, glaring at the ranger; her hatred towards the woman clear in her voice.

"But Meili, your wing." Colby protested as Meili turned around.

"We'll deal with that later."

She began to approach the doors again but grunted in annoyance when she found Colby blocking the way.

"Colby! Get ..." She began but stopped herself. Taking a breath, she started again. "Look, I just don't want to see her."

"Your wing needs to be fixed." Colby insisted in a rare show of assertiveness. When Meili failed to respond, he continued. "It's been over a week, Meili. She can't do anything to you here so please, just get your wing fixed.

Meili looked back at Celia. She had noticed them now and was looking at Meili's wing in guilty recognition and a little confusion. Colby supposed she had expected them to be accompanied by a trainer.

"Fine." Meili finally relented. "But let's get out quickly, okay?"

"Okay." Colby agreed.

As it turned out, fixing Meili's wing wouldn't be quick. The nurse took Meili into a back room and when they returned Meili sported a new bandage and an irritated expression.

"Three days!" She told him, seeming as annoyed as if she'd been told three years. Colby, however, was surprised.

"Is that all?" He asked. He'd figured that the wound would take a lot longer given how bad it had been at first. Once again, he found himself awed by what the humans could do.

"Yeah. We also need to come back here twice a day for her to treat it."

"And..." Colby swallowed. "Will it fully recover?"

"It should.". Meili sounded relieved. "Apparently whatever the rangers did actually saved it."

Colby glanced at Celia, who was still minding her own business and occasionally shooting the two a wary look.

"Well, that's something to be happy about."

By Meili's insistence, their next course of action was to find the gym. Colby pointed out that they wouldn't even be able to challenge it yet but Meili countered by saying that they had nothing better to do so they should just check it out. And so it came to be that, a few hours later, the two were wandering the cobbled streets looking for the gym. Not having a guide or Meili to scout the area from the sky made navigating a lot harder.

They were on what must have been the main street when something caught Colby's attention. He nearly passed it by. It was just a newspaper in the window of some shop, but the picture on the front made Colby double take. It was of a blond-hired man clad in orange and black. He stood amongst a group of similarly dressed people outside a forest, possibly Viridian. The main focus of the picture was a black-haired man, who was also clad in orange and black, but the style made him look more official. Colby found himself wishing that he could read the human text above or below the picture.

"What is it Colby?" Meili asked, coming up behind him and peering at the photo.

"Hang on, are those rangers?" She asked.

"Yeah." Murmured Colby. He raised a paw to indicate the blond man. "And that's Daniel. The one that fixed your wing."

"What's a photo of them doing here?" Meili sounded furious at the fact the group were even being acknowledged. "Is that Viridian?"

"Viridian forest declared safe for travelers once more." Came a third voice.

Colby and Meili both jumped and a second later Meili was pivoting on one foot, good wing extended to send a blast of air at the unknown speaker. There was a surprised hiss, a few thuds and a scraping sound as the stranger reoriented themselves.

"I should have expected that."

Colby also turned. Meili had thrown the speaker an impressive distance, having caused it to hit a sign of an opposite shop. The nearby humans were understandably surprised by this and now a few were backing away from the area. When Colby took in what the Pokémon had been, he wanted to join them.

It was a serpentine Pokémon, mostly purple in colour with a yellow underbelly and piercing gold eyes. He didn't recognise it, but Colby immediately knew this to be some kind of predator.

"Hey! You're an Ekans, right?" Meili questioned, prowling in a distinctly non-avian fashion. "The Pidgey were warned about your kind."

"Sure am." Said the Ekans, slithering round to a more dignified position. Its movements were subtly graceful and it was little wonder it managed to sneak up on them. The fact that it could, though, made Colby nervous.

"Sorry about that, by the way. I was just interested."

Meili was having none of it.

"Curious about what?"

"Well... You see … I heard you mentioning gyms just outside town and thought that..."

"Outside town?" Meili cut him off. "How long have you been following us?"

"Uh ..." The Ekans thought for a moment. "About five hours?" He saw that did little to placate Meili and hurriedly continued. "But not when you went into the Pokémon Centre. And it wasn't close following; just your scents." He flicked out his rounded tongue as if to illustrate this fact.

"And why were you following us? Actually, I don't even need to ask. You were hunting us, weren't you?"

"Meili?"

Meili turned at Colby's hesitant call to see him gesturing for her to step away from the Ekans. The close proximity of the two worried him. Not only could the Ekans easily strike out at Meili, but from his friend's behaviour she might attack as well.

As Meili took a few cautious steps back, the Ekans vigorously shook its head.

"No! I wouldn't hunt you two. I'm not much for that kind of thing since ... Anyway, I heard you talking about gyms and just noticed you didn't seem to have a trainer. Do you have a trainer?"

"No." Colby piped up. "We're just battling the gyms ourselves."

This definitely peaked the Ekans's interest.

"You are? How?"

"We only have one badge so far." Colby murmured, shifting his scarf so that the Earth Badge was clearly visible.

"Wow!" The Ekans surged forwards but hurriedly drew back when Colby shrank in on himself and Meili squawked in warning.

"That's as far as Phil got! Well, when I last saw him, at least."

"Phil?" Meili asked flatly.

"Yeah. It's a long story. I can explain it later, if you like?"

"We were kind of hoping you would just stop following us."

"Oh." The Ekans looked disappointed before its expression switched to one of hope. "But I can show you to the gym?" He offered. "I've lived here for a while so..."

The Ekans glanced between the two as Colby and Meili gave each other confused looks. He actually seemed to want to help for some reason. Colby still wasn't sure, but the mention of the gym brought back Meili's frustrations from wandering the past two hours.

"Okay. Lead the way." and, in a whisper to Colby she added. "Stay away from him."

Colby nodded. He wasn't stupid. It was an Ekans, after all.

"I'm Nigel, by the way!"

The Ekans was now looking back at them, a friendly smile on his face.

"Uh." Meili hesitated, her eyes narrowing before she replied,

"Meilikki."

"And I'm Colby."

"Nice to meet you." Nigel said and, without further ado, began to lead the way.


	15. Chapter 15: The Pewter gym

It turned out Colby and Meili had been searching the wrong end of the city. This meant the route to the gym was something of a walk, during which the chatty Nigel tried his best to spark conversation. After probing questions about where they came from and what their journey had been like were met by icy dismissal by Meili and uncomfortable stunted responses by Colby, he changed tactics and filled them in on who exactly he was.

Nigel had been part of a trainer's team for a short while. When they reached Pewter, his old trainer had gathered six Pokémon, most of them had some kind of disadvantage against the local leader. The trainer, Phil, decided his team needed a new member and that one of his current Pokémon would be rotated out.

"I kind of knew it would be me.", Nigel admitted. "I was easily the weakest link of the team. It's not that I'm bad at battling, it's just that I didn't have ... the drive, I guess?"

Meili gave a disinterested hum and Colby just nodded. The truth was, they were both curious about the strange Ekans. It was interesting to talk to a Pokémon who had more experience with humans. But most meetings like this had ended in conflict or at least disagreements and Colby, for one, did not want another such encounter.

"I didn't think he'd release me, though.", Nigel continued. "Normally trainers store their Pokémon with a professor who will let them out and make sure they get exercise and stuff. I never thought it sounded too great, and I guess Phil didn't either. He said I'd be happier in the wild."

Nigel trailed off, staring blankly ahead as he slithered along. Eventually, he sighed.

"I guess I should be grateful. I'm happier than I would be in storage. It's just that ... well ... It gets lonely. Being part of a team is great. You all have each other's backs, you work together, you live together ... I miss that."

Colby and Meili shared a glance. Neither had completely put aside their suspicions, but it was looking more and more like Nigel was no threat. Colby already felt a little bad about how they had treated him earlier.

"But I should stop rambling about myself.", Nigel said, snapping back to attention and taking in their surroundings. "We're almost there. Come on."

He led them down a path to the right and stopped outside a a large grey stone building.

"Here it is!" He announced, his eyes scanning a sign above the door.

"Doesn't look like much.", Meili commented. Nigel grinned at her.

"Just wait until you see the inside."

Before Colby and Meili could start the long and painful process of trying to get the door open, Nigel sprang upward, took a handle in his mouth and yanked it down. The door swung inward and they entered the gym.

From what they had seen so far, they couldn't have expected what it would be like inside. The Viridian gym had been rather basic in design, just a sandy battle arena and a few lines on the floor to indicate training areas.

The Pewter gym, however, was nothing short of a cavern. The whole area was built from rough stone, complete with stalagmites hanging from the ceiling. To the right was a steep drop, a path curved to their left. Several practice battles and training sessions were taking place along the walkway which wound down into the floor until reaching a circular battle arena of compacted dirt.

"Wow.", Colby breathed.

"Cool, right?", Nigel asked. "I hear it took them ages to make."

A sudden flash of light caught their attention, causing Colby to jump. The familiar sound of an opening Pokéball echoed around the gym and a second later the three were faced by the monstrous stone head of a snake Pokémon. The Pokémon looked down at them as the end of its body rested on the battle field.

"Challengers!" Came a deep voice. "Welcome."

A figure made its way up the great stone snake's back. He was tall, dark skinned and, from what they could see, quite muscular.

"Now!" He continued, coming to stand on his Pokémon's head. "Where's your trainer?"

"Uh.". Both Colby and Meili hesitated. Colby was unsurprisingly intimidated by the enormous creature but Meili seemed worse off. She stepped behind him and Nigel and was made herself look as small as possible. Her breathing was deep and rapid in a way that Colby knew all too well.

Eventually, Colby realised he would have to talk. Directing his answer to the stone Pokémon, he managed to squeak:

"We don't have a trainer."

"Hmm.", it rumbled, lowering itself to be on eye level with him. "Then why are you here?"

The words came out as if they were spoken from deep within a cave, echoing and reverberating through its rocky body.

"Uh ... We want to challenge the gym.". Colby was no longer sure if this was a good idea. If they had to battle this creature, they wouldn't stand a chance.

"Hang on. Onix, bring me closer.", directed the human and the Onix obliged. It slithered up the levels of the pathway and rested its head besides them so his trainer could step off and crouch before them.

"I think Blue mentioned you."

Colby nodded and lifted his paw to present the badge on his scarf.

"Yeah! I guess you're after the badge?"

Another nod from Colby caused the man to grin.

"Well, I like your spirit. I'm Brock, the gym leader. Make your way down and I'll give you a battle.". He got back on his Onix and, once they had reached the bottom, climbed atop a stone pedestal.

"We're not ready yet.", Colby protested, far too late.

"Well, now what? I can't battle.", said Meili, recovering somewhat.

"We could ... Uh ... He expects a battle now, doesn't he?"

"But you can't take him alone!" Exclaimed Meili. Upon seeing Colby's hurt look, she hastily added, "Not because of you. But ... well ... You saw that thing."

"I could help."

Both their heads turned to see Nigel peering hopefully at them.

Meili gave him a flat look.

"You?"

"Yeah. I'm not bad. Sure, he uses ground types, but you'd be at a disadvantage too."

"I ...", Meili began, perhaps she meant to protest but then she glanced down at the Onix and admitted, "I guess."

"So I can help out?"

"It's meant to be just us.", Meili complained.

"I don't mind.", said Colby. They both stared at him, Meili in surprise and Nigel in excitement. Looking down abashedly, he muttered:

"I can't do it myself."

"If you're sure.", said Meili, who did not seem sure.

"I won't let you down!" Nigel smiled and, tentatively, Colby returned it.

It took them about five minutes to reach the arena. The path wasn't exactly flat and a few times they had to carefully navigate their way around a practice battle to avoid getting crushed by a flying bolder. A few trainers gave them odd glances but none stopped them.

When they arrived, Brock stepped from his platform and walked over.

"So, just you two?" He asked, gesturing at Nigel and Colby as he looked at Meili's bandaged wing.

Seeing Colby's nod, he stepped back and reached for two Pokéballs on his belt. Thankfully, neither were the black and yellow ball that contained the Onix.

"Tell you what. I also plan on using two so let's make this a double battle. First side to have both Pokémon faint loses. Don't worry, I'll bring you to the centre afterwards."

They took their positions at either end of the arena; Brock and Meili on the platforms, Colby and Nigel side by side on the dirt floor. Many of the gym trainers had gathered around the ledges of the path above them, giving the appearance of a sparsely populated stadium.

"Ready!" Brock called. He lifted the Pokéballs in each hand and announced

"Let's go!"

The Pokéballs thumped to the dirt and burst open. Their first opponent was small and round with rocky arms extending from the boulder which made up its body. The second was another Onix. While not nearly as big as the one they had seen before, both Colby and Nigel knew this wouldn't be easy to take down. It extended at least nine meters and let out a deep bellow upon striking the dirt.

"Onix, go underground! Geodude, keep your distance and use Rock Throw!" Brock demanded. Both Pokémon obeyed their commands and Colby was forced to scurry out of the way of a flurry of rocks.

"Keep moving!" Nigel shouted, springing to one side. "Don't let that Onix get too close!"

Colby thought that sounded like a good idea. He weaved randomly across the battlefield, not letting Onix hone in on one location while making his way slowly but surely toward Geodude. Nigel was more or less doing the same, but wasn't nearly as nimble as Colby. As a result, Colby got the opening to attack first. A moment of distraction as the Geodude tried to nail Nigel with a rock allowed him to dart in with Quick Attack and, even as the energy rush from that attack faded, charge his fangs to sink into the stone of the Geodude. To his surprise, a few small cracks appeared where he bit down. He went to repeat the move but an electrically charged fist bludgeoned him away. The electricity left him stunned and, before he could recover, a rock struck him in the jaw. To make matters worse, Onix chose this moment to reappear.

Nigel had been making his way towards the scuffle in hopes of helping but now found himself clamped between a set of massive stone jaws.

"Nigel!" Colby yelled in concern but the smaller snake could handle himself. Before Onix could press the advantage, Nigel angled himself around and shot a blob of fizzing acid directly into its face. It bellowed in pain and Nigel was dropped to the ground.

"Underground again!" Brock shouted even as Nigel pounced. It vanished and Nigel changed direction so his bite hit Geodude before it could drive its fist into Colby.

"Thank you!" Colby said, pulling himself to his feet before hurling himself at the Geodude with a burst of energy from a Quick Attack. The two were sent rolling but Colby recovered first, backing away in time for Nigel to send an acidic spray of toxins onto Geodude.

"Colby.", he half shouted, half whispered. "When I say dodge, dodge then attack where you were. I think I can tell when that Onix is coming."

Colby would have responded but was forced to avoid a blast of mud from Geodude. Taking an arm between his teeth, he yanked it to one side. Nigel joined in, stabbing a glowing purple tail into its back.

"Stone edge!" called Brock. "Get them away from you!"

The warning gave Colby enough time to let go and Nigel curved his body away but a second later they were both hit. A series of jagged pillars of stone forced their way from the ground, sending Colby reeling.

Brock shouted "Now!" and, through a hail of rocks and dirt Nigel shouted:

"Dodge!"

Somehow, Colby reacted in time. He stopped his roll on all fours leapt around so when the great stone pillar that was Onix's body appeared, he managed to lock his teeth onto one of the boulders. He almost slipped, but a crack opened up and he hooked in his fangs, unwilling to let go. Brock urged Onix onward. Colby found himself being whipped and shaken while Onix roared. Colby was battered repeatedly against the wall but he stayed put, willing his neck not to snap.

Brock seemed to growl in frustration: "Okay then, Bide."

The Onix stilled. As Colby continued to hang from its back, his teeth aching, Onix curled itself up and lay still. Confused, Colby let go. When Onix remained immobile, he bit it again. There was a slight grunt, but still snake didn't move.

"Uh ...", he murmured before hurrying to where Nigel was locked in combat with Geodude.

"Do you know what he's doing?" He shouted, pushing the Geodude aside so his next attempt at Stone Edge missed.

"It's Bide! He won't do anything, he'll build up energy from being hurt."

Colby took a Thunder Punch to the side in order to stab a tooth into the top of the Geodude's head. "What should we do then?"

"I ... I don't know. This might be our only chance to take it out."

Another command boomed from Brock's platform.

"Magnitude!"

Geodude immediately curled up and began to roll away. It rolled a few meters then unwound and viciously punched the ground.

A slight rumble warned them of what was coming, the tremor spread in a circle from the impact, causing the whole room to shake. Rocks tumbled from a few of the ledges, the stone spikes Geodude had made toppled around them and some of the fake stalagmites on the ceiling broke off and rained down. Colby and Nigel were flung upward. Before Colby could register he was flying, the ground seemed to hurtle back up and ram into him. Then a shower of rocks pelted down over him, covering his entire body in a series of scrapes and scratches.

After a dazed moment of silence, Colby dragged himself back up. Nigel didn't seem much better off. His scales were scratched and chipped and he was bleeding from a nasty gash in his forehead. The only good news was that Onix also seemed injured; but if what Nigel had said about Bide was true then that might prove to be a problem.

"Colby.", Nigel managed to pant out. "Go for the Onix. I have an idea."

"But ..."

"I can't explain it. Just ... Please ... Do as much damage as you can."

Colby didn't have time to argue as a Stone Edge cracked out from the floor beside him and Colby scurried off. Leaping forward, he put all his strength, all the adrenaline from the fight, into a full body tackle. This barely shifted the Onix. Colby proceeded to do all he could think of to damage the giant. He bit it, he tackled it, he even scratched at its closed eyes. It felt like attacking a brick wall, but he trusted that Nigel had a plan. Colby deliberately gained the attention of the Geodude, prompting a few thrown rocks which hit Onix once he dodged. Geodude caught on quick, but it was enough time for Nigel to coat a section of the Onix's body in bubbling poison.

Then Bide ended.

With a bellow, Onix uncurled itself and swept its tail around to sweep both Colby and Nigel up. It turned, unintentionally causing a small avalanche where it collided with the wall and prepared to attack Colby.

"Watch out!" Nigel warned and Colby ran. Nigel wrapped the Geodude's arm in his tail and yanked it forward. As Onix turned to follow Colby, he once again sprayed his toxins into its face. It screeched and Nigel continued to pull Geodude along.

"Come get me!" Nigel shouted. Onix turned its head to the sound, roared one final time, and charged.

Nigel's plan immediately became evident. Onix's massive stone body hurtled at both Nigel and Geodude, which frantically punched at Nigel and yelled at its teammate to avoid the collision. A few trainers on the ledges above yelped in surprise and hurried away from where the impact would inevitably take place. There was a crash, a rumble as several boulders from above broke off and rolled down, and then silence. Both Nigel and the Geodude were blocked from view, covered by the Onix which was partially coated by dust and rocks.

Meili's voice piped up from her stand.

"Did ... Did we win?"

Onix shifted; slowly at first, but quickly regained its energy. It lifted itself from the rubble and turned to face Colby. Nigel and Geodude were out cold on the ground, but the Onix was still able to fight. And now Colby would face it alone.


	16. Chapter 16: it takes guts

So far, Colby had been feeling hopeful about the gym battle. Onix was large, powerful, and seemingly impenetrable - but it had yet to do any serious damage. But with Nigel unconscious, Colby felt on his last legs. Even worse, he still had no idea how he, a tiny purple rat, could lay a scratch on a nine meter stone monster. Even when it was still and using Bide, he'd hardly done anything to it.

"Remember.", the Onix rumbled, speaking for the first time in the match. "You can always forfeit."

Colby considered this. After all, there didn't seem to be any feasible path to victory.

Meili didn't seem to think this was an option.

"No Colby!" she shouted, looking imploringly from her stand. "That attack it just did was given energy from you hurting it. You must have done something."

Well, that much at least was true. Sure, the powerful Magnitude probably had something to do with it, but Onix dispatched both Nigel and Geodude with the energy it stored. Maybe Onix was worse off than it appeared. Colby decided the battle was at least worth continuing. If they were to lose, it wouldn't be through his inaction.

Colby ran forward, just missing a blast of purple flames from Onix, and slipped into a quick attack to dart around his foe. Onix couldn't keep up at first but that didn't mean it was defenceless. Onix's stone tail bore down on Colby, several boulders swept up along with it and Colby was forced to swerve and change direction. After reaching a safe distance, he rushed in again and this time was fast enough to ram his body into Onix and cling on. He managed to bite down two or three times before he was flung off and started running again.

This continued for a while. Onix launched a series of deadly rocks and bursts of purple fire but Colby was fast enough to dart around them and get in the occasional Tackle or Bite. It was slow and incredibly exhausting, but to Colby's delight it seemed to be working. Onix began to pant, attacks weaker and less frequent.

Colby should have paid more attention though. What he and Meili failed to notice was a series of hand gestures Brock had given Onix during the exchange of attacks. Now Colby was being slowly led around the battlefield. Colby jumped over a rock, weaved around a Dragonbreath, bit Onix's tale, rushed out, and was stuck. He stood exactly where Nigel and Geodude had been crushed beneath the very Pokémon he was now fighting. Geodude had been long since returned to its ball and a brave gym trainer had ventured down to retrieve Nigel, but the gouge in the rocks remained.

There was nowhere to go. The crevice was deep and each edge was too steep to climb. The only exit was the way Colby came and that was now blocked off by Onix's stone head.

Desperately, Colby scrabbled at the walls and darted about the space. He was determined to find a way out. He just had to. But when Onix opened its maw, nothing came to mind.

From the point of view of the spectators, the battle looked rather conclusive. The Rattata had been trapped and, when the area it had was bathed in purple light, no one saw it get away.

Brock appeared to relax, several trainers clapped to their leader's victory and Meili covered her face with one wing. She let out a gasp of shock and concern, her eyes fixed on where her friend was pummeled by draconic energy from a stone monster.

After a few seconds, the attack ended and Onix moved back. Everyone present craned their necks to see the area Onix left behind, although all of them knew what they would see. The only problem was, they didn't. Where there should have been a singed and fainted Rattata, there was nothing.

"You disintegrated him!" Meili screamed, flapping her wing at Onix.

"Of course I didn't."' Onix growled, though it sounded confused.

"Where did ...", Brock trailed off, frowning at the crevice in the wall before a thought seemed to occur to him.

"Onix!" He shouted. "Move back!"

Onix shuffled away so a little more light was cast into where Colby should have been. Everyone looked closer. At the back of the gap, already slightly covered up once again, was a very narrow hole.

"So ... That Rattata knows dig?" Brock murmured.

"Colby knows dig!" Meili shouted.

Meanwhile, about a meter and a half underground, Colby was thinking much the same thing. He was instinctively reaching forward and clawing large clumps of dirt behind him in a way that reminded him of his Quick Attack, though he had no understanding of how he was doing this. It wasn't slow, either. If anything, it was as fast as running and he could change directions easily. The only thing his body wouldn't let him do was stop.

His senses were experiencing something new. His whiskers and fur were both picking up on vibrations and tremors in the earth. He could interpret these shifts as movements above ground, which he concluded when he sensed an almighty shake and something move down to join him. It must have been Onix, he realised.

He had narrowly escaped a loss only to now be facing his opponent in its own domain. Even as Colby burrowed desperately in a random direction, he could feel Onix coming to intercept him. He moved up, and his tail was brushed by a moving train of rocks before he resurfaced once more.

"What was that?" He heard Meili ask. He turned to stare at her, her eyes wide but creased in a grin.

"I don't know!" Colby called back, desperately looking about for an idea. He realised that being able to dig, while it had gotten him out of a sticky situation, wouldn't be much more help. Onix was built to live underground, Colby was not. He needed to either exhaust it, which was unlikely considering Colby was struggling to take in air at this point and he felt as if his legs were supporting the weight of the entire building, or he would have to hit Onix with something with a lot of force.

Colby saw a puddle of poison left behind by Nigel and he was reminded of the dreadful events of the forest. He remembered running away from Meili in tears only to be attacked by that Weedle and, in the end, taking his first life. But ... Colby couldn't quite shake the feeling that he had done a lot more damage in that fight than he should of. He had been poisoned, but he had crushed the exoskeleton of the Weedle. In fact, it was almost as if his body had responded to the poison with a kind of emergency strength.

It was worth a shot.

Running forward before Onix could come up from the ground, Colby pushed his legs to carry him as fast as they could to the poison. He opened his mouth, closed his eyes and took a sip.

He immediately regretted it. The acidic poison probably tasted horrible but burned his mouth before he could even confirm that. He gagged but, possibly due to being able to stomach some truly terrible things, he managed to choke it down.

The shocked and bemused reactions from the spectators were lost to Colby. As Meili shouted something at him, his vision blurred and his strength felt like it was being sapped away. But through it all, he felt a familiar primal strength. Under stress, he felt abruptly prepared to fight back.

The rest of the fight was a blur. Colby tried to run, but just ended up weakly limping forwards. A boom signaled Onix had burst its way back out from the ground and barely missed Colby. The tiny rat turned, broke into a run, leapt from the ground, and plowed right into the side of Onix's head with a crack. The force actually jolted it sideways before it unceremoniously crashed to the floor, Colby's drained body flopping next to it.

Somehow, it had worked. Onix had been defeated by Colby's final crazy plan. It now lay toppled in the centre of the arena, half its body still buried in the ground. Colby lifted his head to smile at Meili.

They had done it again.

The spectators broke into a polite round of applause as Meili jumped on the spot.

"You did it!" She shouted, clumsily navigating the steps of the platform before running over to him.

Nigel, who had come back around and had the worst of his injuries treated, wearily made his way towards the pair.

"Good job!" Boomed Brock as he jumped down from his own platform. Pulling out two bottles from his pockets, he uncapped one and gently tipped it into Colby's mouth. Colby instinctively gulped down a little of whatever it was, Brock sprayed down Colby with the other.

"There you go.", he said. "I think you should at least be awake for this."

It took about a minute, but the medicine did its job and Colby was soon able to sit upright without his head spinning and his insides feeling as if they were twisting themselves together.

"Well, I won't say I'm not surprised.", Brock began. "I didn't know how well Pokémon without trainers would be able to do on their own. I thought it would but like fighting off a wild Pokémon.

"I see now that I was wrong to underestimate you. You worked great as a team to use my own Pokémon against me, and you," he pointed at Colby "Actually took advantage of your ability. That's something many trainers forget about, well done."

Colby didn't actually know what Brock meant by an ability, but he accepted the compliment anyway.

"All that being said, it's safe to say that you have earned my Boulder Badge."

Brock pulled out a metallic octagonal piece of metal from his pocket. The Boulder Badge.

"Look at it, Colby.", Meili smiled. "You earned that."

"And Nigel.", Colby pointed out. "Thank you for helping, by the way."

Nigel smiled amiably at him.

"No problem. It was fun."

Meili murmured, "Yeah, er, thanks."

Brock leaned next to Colby and pinned the badge to his scarf, right next to the Earth Badge.

"That's our second badge! We're a quarter of the way there!"

With a start, Colby realised she was right. It had only been a month and already they had beaten two of the eight gyms. One month, and already they had experienced so much. The question was, what lay ahead now?

Nigel led them both to the Pokémon Centre. Almost immediately, Meili turned to Colby with a confused frown.

"So, what happened there?"

"What do you mean?"

"Come on. Suddenly you know Dig and then you poison yourself?"

"I ... I didn't know I knew that.", he admitted, staring at his paws as he remembered burrowing through the ground.

"So, you've never even tried?"

"No. I've seen my dad do it but ... well ... I'd never tried before."

"That would be it, then.", interjected Nigel. Colby blinked at him.

"What?"

"I've heard that some Pokémon instinctively know some of the same moves as their parents. I don't know how it works, but I'm pretty sure it's a thing."

"So I've always been able to do that?"

"I guess so. You just never tried."

Colby thought that through. It was definitely useful. He could think of a few times when being able to hide underground would have made things much easier. The fight against the Abra in Viridian came to mind.

"And what about the other thing?" asked Meili. "Colby, you do know you poisoned yourself?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Right. Why?"

Colby thought it through.

"Remember when I got poisoned before?"

Meili winced. "Yes …"

"Well, I remembered that it made me feel stronger so I ..."

"You decided to drink a puddle of poison on the floor."

"Yes."

Meili sighed. "Well, I guess it worked. Nigel, you know about these things. What was it?"

"I'm not sure. Brock called it an ability but I don't really know how those work. I think they're just what humans call things Pokémon can do that isn't an attack."

"Well, at least we know about it now.", Meili leaned over and, without warning, hit Colby lightly round the back of the head with her good wing. "Just don't go poisoning yourself all the time, okay?"

"Okay."

Colby and Nigel were too exhausted to say much more on the way back, so Meili filled the silence with an unnecessary and exaggerated play by play of the battle. Colby thought that she would have been disappointed not to have taken part, but she didn't show it as she praised him and even gave Nigel the occasional compliment.

When they reached the centre, Colby and Nigel were taken for examination and treatment. Colby only required some basic treatment and an injection to make sure the last of the poison he swallowed was gone but Nigel would take a little longer. He had been crushed under five hundred lbs of rock snake and boulders, after all. And so Colby and Meili were left loitering in the lobby of the centre, unwilling to leave the Pokémon who had helped them but unsure as to what they would say upon his arrival. Colby thought that it was obvious. The Ekans was enthusiastic, likable and good in battle; it just made sense to invite him to join them.

Unbidden, Rese sprung to mind. He had been the last one to join them and things ended in disaster. Colby tried to push that thought aside, however, and turned his mind to another problem.

He knew that Meili didn't exactly like Nigel, for whatever reason.

"Uh ... Meili?" He eventually asked.

"Hmmm?" She replied, looking away from the Pidgey she had been watching fly outside the window. "What is it?"

"Well ...". Colby fidgeted with his tail and looked away. Even this felt too confrontational. "Why don't you like Nigel?"

"What? I don't –" Meili began but stopped herself. Even she could tell that denying it would be pointless. "It's just, since I was a Pidgey.", she eventually said. "We were warned about Ekans. Apparently they sometimes attack nests and steal eggs and chicks."

"Oh.", said Colby. He didn't quite know what to say to that. Although, he couldn't exactly imagine the friendly Nigel doing such things.

Meili continued, "So, I just don't trust him. That's just a cowardly thing to do, right?"

"Meili?" said Colby once again, positioning himself in front of his friend. It made him a little uncomfortable, but he met her gaze. "Remember when we met?"

Meili tilted her head.

"Yeah. You were lost and I helped you find your family. I think I startled you."

"Did I tell you how I got lost?"

"Don't think so. Why? And what does this have to do with Nigel?"

"You'll see.". Colby looked away again. "I was separated from my siblings. We were young so my uncle was watching us to make sure we were okay. We were attacked … by a Pidgeot."

Colby glanced up briefly before looking back at the tiled floor. Meili's eyes had widened and she took a step back. He suspected she already knew where this was going, but he continued.

"It was going for us younger ones but my uncle stepped in. We all got away, but he ... he didn't. I ran for a while, got lost and then found you."

"I'm sorry.", Meili whispered.

"It's fine. You helped me, and we still became friends."

Both of them lapsed into silence. Meili seemed to be going over this new information in her mind and Colby just didn't know what else to say.

Meili sighed, "It just goes to show why you're a better person than me. We made friends despite what you went through and here I am, hating a Pokémon just because of a rumor."

"I'm not ...", Colby began abashedly before Meili cut him off.

"You are. You're a great friend, Colby.". There was a slight pause, Meili looked uncertain about something before she continued, "Actually ... I need to talk to you about –"

The door to the treatment area clattered open and Nigel appeared, followed by a nurse.

"Hey, you waited?" he called.

"Well, yeah.", Meili replied. "We kind of had to." And then, after a look from Colby, she added: "And we need to ask you something."

Nigel slithered over, curious and hopeful.

"Shoot."

"So, uh ... You enjoyed that battle right? And you mentioned wanting to be on a team again and wanting to travel. So, we thought ..."

"We wondered if you'd like to come with us?" Colby cut her off, she was taking too long.

Nigel's eyes widened and he thumped his tail against the ground.

"Really? Well, uh, yes but ... I didn't think you liked me much?"

"What? No.", Meili denied this, laughing nervously before another look from Colby stopped her. "Well, I didn't. At least, not you specifically. It's just..."

She rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Fine. Look, I'm sorry about that. It's a personal thing but it's fine."

Nigel winced.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. We're not very popular."

"So, we cool?"

"Sure. And thank you."

Nigel reached his tail forward and, after a moment of confusedly staring at it, Meili extended a wing and shook it. It was a strange handshake, not actually involving any hands, but the general meaning was still there.

And so two became three.


	17. Chapter 17: The next steps

"Wahoo!"

Meili twirled away from a spray of speeding seeds. With one swift movement of her wings she sent a swirling mass of air at her opponent. The Hoppip squeaked as she was buffeted about in the gust. As Meili shot in to finish her off, a second round of seeds shot from the crown of Hoppip's head. Even as they stung against Meili, she grinned at the thrill of being able to fly again.

It had taken five days for the nurse in the centre to declare Meili's wing recovered. During that time they were bored out of their skulls, so as soon as the bandage came off they left for the next city. Not long after that, a trainer spotted them, interest piqued at the odd group. Colby had wanted to disappear into the tall grass but Meili insisted on challenging the trainer. When Nigel pointed out that they could watch from the grass and help if it was necessary, Colby reluctantly agreed and Meili burst forth, screeching her challenge.

Now, Colby realised he shouldn't have been worried. Hoppip hadn't managed to do any substantial damage to Meili, and Meili seemed to be in complete control of the battle.

Meili's brief moment of distraction allowed Hoppip to escape her attack and drift to the ground. She then knocked herself back with a breeze that sparkled as it shot toward Meili, Meili countered with a regular Gust that sent Hoppip blowing across the field. The trainer, a tan boy clad in green, hurriedly recalled his Pokémon and, frowning, released a blue cat Pokémon.

None of them knew what it was, but its type became immediately obvious as it sent a spray of electrical sparks at Meili. Meili yelped in surprise and tried to evade the attack with partial success. A few sparks danced along one wing but she shook this off.

Not giving it a second chance, Meili swooped down to strike the Pokémon, a Shinx according to the trainer's direction. Before Quick Attack could land, Shink crouched down and a crackling web of electricity spread over its blue body. Meili managed to knock it over, but was forced to land and stumble back as she took in the full force of the shock charging through her.

"Meili!" Colby called and almost rushed out to help but a purple tail stopped him.

"She said she wanted to try this herself," Nigel reminded him. "We should –"

Nigel cut himself off. The trainer had had just thrown a red and white ball at Meili. She only had time to widen her eyes and gasp before she was struck and a red light pulled her inside.

Colby and Nigel froze in place, staring at the sphere as it bounced to the grass. Nigel was no longer blocking the way, but Colby didn't make a move to join the fight. The world around the ball had faded away, so he was not aware of the trainer and his Pokémon anxiously watching the ball, or the horrified look on Nigel's face.

As the ball shook once, Colby was sure she would break out. They'd come this far on their own, after all. It wasn't just about the journey now, it was about doing it without a trainer, doing it together.

After the second shake, Colby wasn't sure. Going without a trainer had been a compromise, after all. If they had never battled Eleanor, they might never have left.

By the third, Colby was resigning himself to the final click. After a year of desperately trying to get caught and being rejected every time, could he really blame Meili for taking the chance when it presented itself? He closed his eyes, expecting the sound that would signal the loss of his best friend and thinking about the long journey back home.

At once, Meili broke out, and Colby realised he was being an idiot. Meili glared at the trainer and sent a Whirlwind at Shinx.

"Paralyse it! Thunder wave!"

Colby decided now that enough was enough. He jumped from the grass and launched into a Quick Attack, shoving Shinx off his feet.

Nigel seemed to have the same conclusion. However, instead of jumping at the Pokémon, his target was the trainer. He launched himself upward and locked his teeth around the trainer's hand. Screaming, he dropped the blue and white ball he had been holding and desperately tried to dislodge the suddenly furious Ekans.

"Nigel?" Meili gasped as he let go and dropped to the ground. Two puncture wounds were left behind that oozed blood and venom.

"I've just met you! I'm not going back to aimlessly wondering a city because one of you gets captured!" Nigel hissed, his yellow eyes glowing with rage. He followed this statement by jumping up again. The trainer had been trying to take some kind of bottle, probably an antidote, from his bag which Nigel knocked away.

"Oh no," the trainer groaned as the contents spilled over the grass and sunk into the dirt. "Come on, Shinx."

With one last fearful glance at Nigel, the trainer ran back toward Pewter, his Pokémon following close behind.

There was silence and then:

"What was that about?" Meili marched forward and stared down a suddenly-sheepish Nigel.

"Sorry. It's just ..."

"I know why you did it, but you really didn't need to. I was fine!"

"But ... He was about to use a Great Ball. You only _just_ escaped a normal Pokéball."

Colby thought there was something more important that needed to be asked.

"Will he be okay?"

Nigel closed his eyes and sighed.

"Don't worry. My poison doesn't do much to humans."

"Oh, good." Colby relaxed.

"I wouldn't have bitten him if it was going to hurt him."

They lapsed back into silence again.

Meili sighed, "Well ... Thanks for helping, I guess."

"You don't think I went too far?". Nigel still looked slightly ashamed.

"Well, it was extreme … but it worked."

"Oh. Okay. It's just that I panicked and ..."

"Yeah. It's fine."

"Okay. Thank you."

They began to walk again, continuing in silence for a while. Nigel still seemed a little uncomfortable. Colby had to admit that seeing the amicable Ekans suddenly so aggressive had been a frightening experience. The mere fact that his immediate instinct had been to go for the trainer was alarming, even though Colby understood the motivation.

Colby also couldn't stop thinking about Meili's near-capture. He felt a little bad for doubting her but still wondered if she had considered staying in the ball.

All this added up to Meili being the only one in any mood to talk, a fact she picked up on.

"What's up with you?" She asked, fluttering down before him, stopping him in his tracks. Colby was pleased to notice that her approach was no longer enough to alarm him and he wondered when that had happened. Maybe when she was unable to fly?

"Colby?" Meili flapped a wing in front of his face and Colby jumped.

"Wha? Oh, sorry. Um ... What do you mean?"

"You're very quiet. Not that you talk much to begin with but ... still."

Colby shook his head, "It's nothing. Just thinking."

Meili cocked her head to the side, "About what?"

"Just ... That trainer."

Meili seemed to consider the battle, "Oh, if it's my wing, no need to worry Colby. I'm fine."

Colby bared his teeth at the ground and shook his head, "It's not that."

"Charming."

"Huh? No! Of course I care if you're okay. I ... Um ..."

Meili let out a giggle making Colby fall silent..

"Stop worrying. Calm down."

Colby took a deep breath and tried to shoot Meili a glare that just ended up looking more confused. She barely stifled another laugh. "So, what is it about that trainer?"

"Well, it's just that … he tried to catch you."

"Yeah. And it felt really weird."

Colby tilted his head to one side, "What was it like?"

"It's ... Well, you kind of feel as if something's pushing you smaller? I had to push back against that."

"And what does it look like?"

Meili shrugged. "It was just a blur. I think surroundings were coming into focus but I didn't really pay much attention. It was hard enough just trying to get out."

Colby thought that through.

"Did ..."-he swallowed-"Did you think of staying?"

"What, and go with the trainer?" Meili glanced at Nigel who was leading the way. She thought of what he'd said about not wanting to lose the team he had just found, Colby didn't blame her.

"Only for a second," she finally admitted.

Colby slowly nodded. He thought it made sense, but Meili seemed to want to justify it anyway.

"I mean, I wasn't really thinking. I just remembered that we had wanted to get captured and got excited. It's not as if I would have _actually_ stayed."

Colby grinned at her. "Stop worrying. Calm down."

Rolling her eyes, Meili batted him softly with a wing.

"Stop trying to be sassy. It doesn't suit you."

"I guess traveling with you is rubbing off on me."

Meili stepped forward.

"Well, I'm glad then."

Leaning forward, she gently nipped him on the ear.

Colby stared at Meili, eyes wide and pace quickening. He couldn't think of a good response to such an obviously affectionate gesture. He wasn't dense, he knew there must be a reason why this had never happened before.

"I would never have gone with that trainer. Not alone. Not without you."

"I ..." Colby started. He couldn't say anything more. He felt as if he would swallow his tongue and his mind was racing too fast to form a sentence. Memories of the last month flashed through his mind as Meili waited for him to respond.

"And I wouldn't be doing this without you," he eventually forced out. It seemed like the safest response. It wasn't quite good enough for Meili, though, she moved back and let out a frustrated but wistful sigh.

"Don't make me come out and say it," she groaned.

That was exactly what Colby wanted her to do. He wanted her to take the lead as always. It would make things a lot more simple if she would just say what was on her mind. Instead, he bit his lip, took a deep breath, and said.

"You _like_ me?"

"Yes!"

Her sudden exclamation caused Colby to stumble back.

Meili sighed, "Sorry but ... Wasn't it obvious?"

"Well ..." Colby glanced aside. "Yes but ... I thought I was just imagining things."

"No, you weren't. I like you, Colby. You're smart, loyal and completely adorable." She leaned forward again and lightly pecked him on the nose, causing him to move further back with a squeak. Smiling, she went on: "So I don't care if this makes things awkward between us, I just needed to say something."

Colby's mind was now buzzing with questions. For how long? Why? What did she want from him? But the one that overtook all the others was a question for himself. How did _he_ feel?

Meili was... Well, she was his best friend. They had known each other since they were young and had spent much of their time on small adventures with the intention of getting captured, the final result of which had been this crazy journey. She had always been the leader and Colby had always at least somewhat looked up to her. She could be intense and a little frightening at times, and not just because of her species.

He supposed he could like her like that, but he really didn't know. Despite the teasing he had received, he'd never given the idea much thought. He had just found it to be too ridiculous.

Meili glanced at Nigel since they had stopped walking. He didn't seem to realize they weren't following him, but it was probably only a matter of time. Colby swallowed, "Uh, so ... Do you want to try being ... being ..."

Meili tried to help, "Mates? A couple? Partners? I don't know what you want to call it."

"Yeah. Would you like to try to be a couple?"

Meili fluttered forward, closing the distance between them once again, and swept Colby up in her wings. After the usual moment of tension, Colby awkwardly wrapped his stubby forepaws around her, taking in the soft texture of her feathers flowing into one another and the comforting warmth that came with hugging one of his species' more dangerous predators.

"Yes, Colby. I would."

Further up the field, Nigel glanced about a little nervously. He'd noticed his new friends had stopped to talk and waited for them to finish before continuing. However, now they seemed to be having a moment and he felt distinctly uncomfortable.

"Okay …" he murmured to himself as Meili drew Colby into a hug. He hoped they realised they were just standing in the middle of an open grassy plain. It weren't exactly private. Nigel, for one, had no choice but to loiter nearby. Deciding he should at least try to leave them alone, he slithered into a patch of taller grass and curled himself up. At least playing third wheel was better than having no friends at all.


	18. Chapter 18: Through dungeons deep

The next three days of travel passed in a blur for Colby. In many ways, life was the same since his conversation with Meili outside Pewter, but the Pidgeotto had become much more playful around him. And, to his embarrassment, she had become more flirtatious too.

Lately she chose to walk rather than fly. She had also taken to preening his ear with her beak.

"I don't know if this is what you do, but if you were a bird this would be considered very romantic," she murmured softly.

"Uh ..." Colby muttered back, completely disorientated. Catching the eye of Nigel, he sent him a pleading look. Nigel just smirked and flicked his tail dismissively.

Colby sighed and decided to change the subject.

"So, where are we headed now?" He directed his question at Nigel who's expression changed to one of thought. He hummed.

"Well, we need to go through Mt. Moon first and then it's not too far to the next city. I think it's Saffron or Cerulean. Or maybe Celadon?"

Meili released Colby who toppled to the ground before scurrying to all fours, flicking his ear.

"We have to go through a mountain?" she asked, eyeing the Ekans with some trepidation.

Nigel bobbed his head, "Well, that's what the maps say and all the trainers talked about it."

Meili asked: "Can't we just go around?"

Nigel looked a little confused.

"I guess we could. It's just that I haven't heard of others doing so," he said.

Colby moved to walk beside Nigel, thinking it through. "Maybe it's easier to go through?" he suggested.

Nigel looked to the distance where the jagged peak of a mountain could be made out.

"We'll just see when we get there," Nigel decided. Meili squinted in the same direction.

"Yeah, we'll see," she agreed.

It took two more days to reach the mountain. They decided to follow the human path, hiding whenever a reainer actually came along. Disgruntled, Meili explained that they weren't as fun to battle if they were going to try catch her. The road began to slope up and, not long after passing a Pokémon Centre, the path was swallowed by the mountain, vanishing into the cold darkness of the cave. Even Colby, with his sharp night vision, found it to be intimidating and Meili was left staring in disbelief.

"We're not going through, are we?" she groaned, peering inside.

"It doesn't look too bad," Nigel insisted.

"I can't see a thing in there!" Meili flapped one wing at the entrance for emphasis.

Nigel slumped. "I guess ... Well, we could go around? It will take a while, though."

It was true. The path around Mt. Moon looked as if it would take them three times as long and it didn't look remotely easier. The base of the mountain was peppered with rocks, steep cliffs and, oddly enough, several craters. Not to mention the entire area was too overgrown to walk through. Meili could fly, but Nigel and Colby would struggle.

"Or ..." Meili continued, not needing this to be pointed out to her but was drawing a blank when it came to thinking of something else. She slumped in defeat, "We can't go over, can we?"

Nigel and Colby shook their heads. Meili sighed. "Through it is, then."

Seeing she looked less than happy about this, Colby stepped forward.

"Hey, um ... I'm sure it will be fine. It won't take too long and we'll show you the way."

Meili closed her eyes but Colby's words seamed to calm her a little.

"I have a bad feeling about this," she told them. "But let's go."

They stepped into the cave together. The temperature shift was immediate and dramatic. Outside, it was late summer and still rather warm during the day. In here, though, was a still, penetrating cold that wasn't helped by the sound of dripping water and the cool stones against their feet. After just an hour, Colby was starting to think that going around might have been easier after all. What they assumed to be a straight path through the mountain had already split several times. He realised the humans who came through here probably had some kind of map to show them the way. But it was too late for them to try and track one down now.

It became near impossible for them to keep track of time in the stone passages and caverns of the mountain. Occasionally, flocks of Zubat would fill the tunnel with their squeaks and rapid wing beats.

Just as they were getting hungry and irritable, they were lucky enough to find an underground lake in a cavern. It was large enough for Meili to glide and snatch up a few Magikarp for them to eat. Thankful for the food and water and the chance to rest, they spent longer than really necessary at this sanctuary. It didn't take long for one of them to pose the question that they all knew the answer to.

"We're lost, aren't we?" Meili spoke after a long lapse of silence.

Nigel lowered his head closer to the ground.

"Sorry," he sighed. "I really thought it would be easier."

Meili let out a frustrated half scream, half groan and pressed a wing to her forehead. Colby looked down, trying to think up some kind of solution.

"Now what?" Meili asked.

Glancing back the way they came, Colby piped up:

"Do either of you remember how to get back to where we started?"

The question was met by two blank stares.

As the three continued to discuss their dilemma, they failed to notice the small group of Pokémon that soundlessly crept from the dark of the tunnel. They were a group of orange, segmented insects. The front two of their six legs each sported a claw but what made these Pokémon stand out was the red and yellow fungus sprouting from their backs. The smallest of the group had several mushrooms bursting through their exoskeletons that seemed to graft into their flesh. The leader looked to be suffering from the next stage of this parasite. A single mushroom had engulfed its back and whited out the creature's eyes. It walked with jerky, deliberate movements but didn't look as if it knew why.

"We can try to backtrack either way," Meili was saying as the larger insect gestured to its subordinates. Most spread out to block the passage but a handful clambered along the wall to drop down between the friends and the lake.

Nigel stared up at the distant roof.

"It's probably the best idea we have. We can't exactly lose our way more," he looked back along the passage and his eyes widened. Smiling, he added.

"Or we could just ask."

Colby and Meili turned to take in the sight of the bugs. Colby stumbled back, shocked at both their appearance and the fact he hadn't heard them approach. Meili, for her part, disregarded all warning signs and moved closer.

"Oh, hi," she said, raising one wing in greeting. "So, we were passing through the mountain and - ahhhh!"

She was cut off. The leader let out a blast from one claw directly into her face. Meili stumbled back in shock before collapsing.

Silence, and then:

"Meili!" Colby bolted to his friend and peered down at her. Thankfully, she was still breathing; she appeared to just be asleep.

"Hey!" Nigel glared at the bugs and began to advance. "What are you..."

He was cut off. A second blast of powder engulfed him and by the time it settled, Nigel was also slumbering on the cave floor.

Colby froze. Both his friends had been incapacitated in the space of a few seconds, his mind raced through the limited options he had left. The floor was solid rock, so he couldn't burrow himself out. A quick glance back confirmed the lake was cut off too; he doubted if he could slip through either group. Anyway, he would have to bring the other two with him. He gulped. There was nothing left to do but fight. He was at a huge disadvantage, but if he held his breath then the spores wouldn't affect him.

"Worth a shot," he muttered and jumped. He didn't last long. The lead bug moved back and thrust his claw forward. Colby found himself plucked from the air and squeezed until the breath was forced from his lungs. He was dropped to the ground, he gasped as the insects closed in. Colby realised he had lost just as he was struck by at least 20 Sleep Powder attacks at once.

Colby never knew how long he was unconscious. It could have been a few minutes or a few days. All he knew was that, when he finally became aware of anything, his ears were filled with rustling and hushed voices. He groaned and tried to shift so that at least one ear was covered.

"Colby?" The voice was familiar, and altogether too loud.

"Ooh, is he waking up?" Someone asked.

"Well, he moved."

A flutter of wings caused the rustling to intensify and something came down beside him.

"Hey, Colby?" It was Meili, a semi-conscious part of his brain realised. "Come on. Wake up."

Something was now pulling his head up and he cracked open one eye. Meili was amusedly staring back down at him, although she seemed cautious of something. Every few seconds her eyes would dart elsewhere.

"No! No! Wake up!" Colby's eye had closed once more but a sharp jab to his forehead brought them shooting back open. He pulled himself to his feet and peered about.

"There we go!" Meili said. "You should probably be awake for this."

Colby stopped listening. All his attention turned to taking in this new part of the mountain.

It was the centre of an enormous cavern. Each distant wall was almost indecipherable in the darkness and the roof couldn't be seen at all. What shocked him, though, was the mass of mushroom bugs that covered almost every available section of the floor. The creatures shuffled around and over each other, creating the eerie rustling that filled the chamber. And all of their attentions appeared to be turned to them. They had been left a small circle in which to move about. He guessed none of them were willing to get any closer to Meili.

"Where are we?" he whispered. He moved back into the centre of the circle. It was taking him a while to remember the seconds before his sedation.

"We've been captured," Meili grumbled, glaring at the nearest insects. That area of the circle immediately became wider. "They're called Paris, or something."

"Paras," Nigel corrected. The Ekans was sprawled in a semi-circle around Colby and Meili. "We don't know why, though," he added.

"They're not going to, uh, eat us, are they?" squeaked Colby. He realised that, if that were the case, they wouldn't be able to do anything to stop it. Not even Nigel shaking his head could stop his worry.

"I wouldn't think so" he answered. "We would probably already be dead if they were. Anyway, this place doesn't smell of blood."

Meili scoffed. "So, what, they just want to talk?" she asked. She didn't give Nigel time to reply, though, before she fluttered over to the edge of the circle and glared at the nearest Paras.

"What do you lot want from us?" she demanded as the surrounding Paras skittered away, leaving their comrade to face the irritated Pidgeotto alone.

"I, uh ... We ... It's the ..." the lone bug stuttered, shuffling back. At least they now knew the creatures could speak.

Just then, another Paras pushed its way from the throng and shoved Meili's target aside. It gratefully scuttled off as the new Paras looked up at Meili. This one looked strange compared to the others. The mushrooms sprouting from its back looked almost stunted in their growth. One seemed to have been cut off completely, leaving just the stump. When it spoke, it's scratchy voice sounded female.

"Parasect heard that you had entered our part of the caves and wanted to know what you were doing," she said.

"Is that it?" Meili glared at the Paras but she seemed unperturbed. "So, you do this for any Pokémon that comes through here?"

"No," Paras admitted. She waved a claw at them, "But you're different. Your kind aren't usually found down here."

Nigel frowned. "But Pokémon must wander in occasionally?"

"Not birds." Paras looked back at Meili. "Sorry, but you don't seem to have a trainer and when the Parasect found out you had wandered near the colony they ordered you be captured."

Meili opened her beak, probably to protest that she hadn't even known about the colony but the Paras raised a claw to stop her.

"Don't worry, I know. It's ridiculous. They're controlling and paranoid."

"Do... Do you think they'll let us go?" Colby looked around at the mass of Paras once more. "We really didn't mean to threaten you."

She hummed "Depends."

"On what?"

"On what they are willing to concede. I'm going to try get you out of this but I..."

" _You_?" Meili scoffed. Taking in Paras' appearance, in particular the sorry state of her mushrooms, she said "No offense, but I don't think you can do much against all these guys."

"Meili!" Colby hissed. He stepped over and gave her a desperate look that seemed to say _please don't insult our only ally._

Meili sighed and Nigel nodded at Para to continue.

"I'm not going to fight them," she stated, sounding annoyed. "I'm going to talk with them. You'll see what I mean in a minute. I just came over to tell you to just answer their questions and leave the actual talking to me."

The three friends looked at each other anxiously.

"Do you think that will work?" Nigel asked.

Instead of a response, the Paras moved to rejoin the mass of her fellow bugs.

"I should go. It will start soon," she told them. She scuttled away then looked back and added, "Oh, and my name's Ancyllia, by the way."

And with that, Ancyillia vanished.

Meili sighed. "We're screwed,"


	19. Chapter 19: The zombie colony

Deep beneath Mt. Moon, the three friends looked on as a Parasect separated itself from its unevolved counterparts. The Parasect clambered onto a rock and turned to face the cavern at large. This seemed to be some kind of sign and, as it came into view above every other creature in the room, the rustling and whispers stopped. It seemed whatever was happening had started.

"You all will have noticed," it began, its raspy voice carrying across the entire chamber, "That we have recently apprehended three strangers in this mountain. These three were found by the lake and were captured after a short altercation."

"What altercation?" Colby heard Meili mutter as she glowered. He thought back to his pitiful attempt to fight their kidnappers and winced. He really hoped that wouldn't make things worse.

"The question now is how to deal with these three. While we would normally let such an incursion go, this group has two dangerous predators amongst its numbers. You will all understand that risks cannot be taken," The cavern fell silent. The Parasect asked "So, what should we do?"

In the explosion of voices and sounds of shuffling, Nigel turned to them.

"They're not giving us a chance." he said, unnecessarily. "I thought we would get a moment to explain ourselves or something."

"We shouldn't have to!" Meili spat. "We haven't done anything!"

Colby looked around for Ancyllia. He hoped her small and tattered mushrooms would make her stand out but he was surprised to find several Paras with the same distinctions. One caught his eye and gestured for him to wait. Colby didn't particularly want to. The Parasect's question seemed like the perfect opportunity to propose a light punishment and let them go free.

"We should abandon them in the passages!" Someone shouted. Parasect latched onto this suggestion and silenced the room with a single wave of his claw.

"Interesting suggestion." it said. It turned its blank eyes to peer at them. "If we leave them in the passages then they will most likely never find their ways out. Any friends they might have outside would assume they got lost."

Colby heard Nigel muttering "Yes please," and he shot the Ekans an odd look. "At least we would be away from here." He mumbled.

"No!" A Paras shouted, dashing their chances of that happening. "That could just lead to others looking for them. And what if they found the way out?"

"Good point," conceded the Parasect. "So, what would _you_ suggest?"

"What I think we all want."

Colby shivered. That statement had been filled with malice and glee. A wave of rustling and anticipation spread around them, like hushed applause.

"So you think we should kill them."

"It only makes sense. They won't tell anyone where we are."

Yet another voice entered the conversation, and to their consternation, it was still not Ancyllia.

"Let it be a warning! We can't have other Pokémon thinking they can just wander in here!"

More rustling, the circle they had been allowed shrank a little. The nearest Paras now looked to be glaring at them. Colby ended up back to back with Meili. Nigel formed a full circle around both of them.

"Come on!" Colby heard Meili worriedly mutter, desperately looking for any kind of assistance.

The Parasect paused for a moment. Colby doubted it was to allow it to think, it was clear it's mind was already made up. Eventually, however, it spoke.

"Very well. Sedate them first, though."

Only now did the Paras actually cheer. It was a chilling sound, thousands of raspy voices mixed into an otherworldly scream. The Paras surged forward, the nearest readying attacks to put the friends to sleep. Further away, the bugs pushed to get in on the action.

"No!" Colby heard Meili scream. She snapped her beak at the nearest Paras and Nigel reared back, hissing a warning. Colby froze for an instant before his instincts kicked in and he also decided to fight back. His teeth clamped down on thin air as the Paras he aimed for scuttled away. He jumped back to avoid a blast of spores, just as Meili took to the air.

"Colby! Nigel! Grab on!"

Spinning about, Colby found his friend hovering just above the ground with her talons outstretched. He doubted if she could actually take them both but it was their best choice.

He was about to jump, but a familiar voice finally decided now to speak up.

"I'm not sure if this is wise, Corpus."

The commotion stopped. Spore attacks were abandoned before they had a chance to be used and, after a moment, even Meili returned to the cavern floor. Every Pokémon in the cavern turned to look at Ancyllia. She had climbed atop another rock. She stared down at all of them imperiously.

The Parasect, who must have been Corpus, remained motionless for a moment. When it did speak, it sounded deceptively calm.

"Please, Ancyllia, explain."

"With pleasure." Ancyllia glanced over at them but quickly returned her attention to Corpus.

"I'm concerned that if we kill them, others might seek revenge."

Corpus was quick to counter that.

"They would be foolish to do so. We would overwhelm anyone they sent. Killing them and leaving them as a warning will make sure they know that."

"Maybe so," Ancyllia agreed. "It might not stop them from trying, though. Especially if they contact a human."

A few gasps were heard, but many of the Paras looked confused.

Corpus appeared to frown. "They were found alone. They can't contact a human."

"And I guess the Rattata made that scarf himself?"

More gasps echoed through the cave as Colby bought a paw up to the scarf where their badges were still safely pinned.

Ancyllia and Corpus glared at each other. The other tattered Paras were starting to gather around Ancyllia.

"What is it you're after?" Corpus eventually asked. He scraped a claw along the rock. "Because, Ancyllia, it sounds like you're trying to defend these outsiders."

"I just want what is safest for us. You're the one making over-the-top decisions. Tell me, Corpus, do you think anymore?" She pointed an accusing claw at him. "If we kill them and leave their bodies to be found, their trainer might recognise them and before we know it we are subject to the same treatment as the Zubat."

"Of course I have considered this!" Corpus spluttered.

"Have you? Because this sounds like the violent overprotective nature of the tochukaso!"

None of the friends had a clue what that meant, but her words seemed to have an effect. Every Paras and Parasect in the room appeared shocked, as if this was an incredibly grave accusation.

"And what." Corpus spoke in a dangerous whisper. "Is wrong with the tochukaso?"

Ancyllia was ready to respond, but Corpus didn't give her the chance.

"The tochukaso has given us the strength to defend this colony. It has allowed us to grow, to live, and has allowed some of us to evolve." Corpus gave Ancyllia a disgusted look. "I do find it curious that you are the one to stand up for these strangers. Your little group of Paras who reject the tochukaso have been acting less and less loyal to the colony as of late. Is there a reason for that?"

Ancyllia was quiet after that. The chattering gradually built, it seemed Corpus knew something Ancyllia didn't want him to be aware of. Meili tensed her wings, ready to take off again at a moment's notice.

Suddenly Ancyllia spoke, "We only seem that way because we are the only ones who think differently than you."

Corpus glared. "What!"

"This isn't you, Corpus. Before, I could have relied on you to see my way of thinking. You would understand that the safest thing would be to let these three go. No, you wouldn't have abducted them in the first place! What happened, Corpus? Because you went from being a reserved but cunning Paras to acting like every single one of the Parasect in this colony." Ancyllia broke for a moment. Corpus didn't respond so she went on. "Because I think it's that parasite on your back. We all do. Every Paras knows what you Parasect really are! We can all feel it. Our actions become less our own as we get closer to evolution. We become more protective of these parasites and suddenly we enjoy being in these caves. Our personalities slip away and you, Corpus, gave into that."

Corpus wasn't angry any more. He just looked blank. The Paras were in a frenzy. Many were swarming closer to Ancyllia, chattering with excitement and fear.

Nigel took in the sight.

"This isn't about us anymore," he whispered to them.

"That ... That is not true. The tochukaso gives us power. It protects us. You just need to accept that, Ancyllia."

It was hard to tell on a bug, but Ancyllia definitely gave the impression of smirking.

"Prove it, then. Choose the safest option and release these three."

Corpus still looked blank, but he was obviously thinking hard. When Colby glanced to where the other Parasect were gathered, he shivered. All of them wore the same frozen stare. Meili spread her wings in preparation for the result and Colby tensed to avoid more spore attacks.

"Very well." Corpus seemed to struggle to get the words out. "You make a good point Ancyllia. I will not risk unnecessary hostility."

Meili dropped her wings "Yes! Thank you!" she whisper-shouted. Colby give her a weak smile.

"Thank you." Ancyllia said, as if she had known that would happen. "I'm glad you could see sense."

"And you would have no objection to being the one to show them out of here?" Corpus asked. Ancyllia climbed down, nodding.

"Of course." She turned to a few nearby Paras. "Go get them."

Colby, Meili and Nigel were led by a circle of Paras who moved through the colony with ease to a towering passageway. Ancyllia met them there and waved for the other Paras to follow along behind. She opted to walk with them. She didn't talk though, apparently that would be up to them.

Colby glanced from the bug to Meili and back, his expression confused. He had no clue what to say. He knew what he wanted to ask and figured they should probably thank Ancyllia, but phrasing such things was not his forte. Meili only gave a shrug of her wings in response before both of them turned to Nigel as probably the most diplomatic of the group. He didn't disappoint.

"Thank you for getting us out of that," Nigel said, slithering beside Ancyllia.

"Oh, it was no problem." she replied. Her eyes narrowed and she gave them a more serious look. "I suppose you noticed something more was going on there?"

Nigel gave a slow nod. "Uh, yes. You're really against evolving, right?"

"That's the short version of it."

Meili frowned. She was the only one present who had experienced an evolution. She clearly didn't get why the Paras would be so against it - beyond what she could glean from the argument earlier.

"Are those things really that bad?" she asked, indicating the fungus on Ancyllia's back.

"Yes." Ancyllia's gaze hardened. "They're a parasite that get stronger along with us. As Paras we just have to get enough food for us and them but the Parasect have no free will at all."

"You mean it takes them over?" Meili stared, incredulously, at Ancyllia before looking back down the passage. She seemed rather disturbed by this revelation. "And I thought growing plumage on my head was off-putting,"

Ancyllia nodded. "Yes, although they don't like to admit it. They know it will make the rest of us resist it."

"So, are you part of an opposition group?" Colby asked. The concept wasn't exactly unheard of to him. Being from such an extensive family, he had witnessed disagreements between certain groups of family members. Still, the stakes were never as high as Ancyllia's situation.

"I'm pretty much the leader. I just started to notice things when the others evolved. They became more aggressive and distrustful. It's the whole reason we live down here. It's not the best place for us, but the Parasect just say it's far away from other Pokémon. I decided to try to convince others to resist the evolution and now there's a sizable number of us."

"But why did you help us?" asked Colby.

"Because by making them let you go I showed the Parasect had made an irrational decision. You saw what happened, they made it seem like they were still going with what they would have done before."

"Oh." Colby whispered. Finding out they had only survived because Ancyllia had seen an opportunity and had taken it shook him a little. Still, he guessed they should still be grateful.

"Umm, where are you taking us?" Meili asked after a few more minutes.

"Well, we're going to bring you to a path you should be able to follow to an exit," Ancyllia explained.

"Wait, you can't just show us the exit?" Meili asked. "We tried to follow a path before and just got lost."

"Sorry, but no. The Parasect won't want us gone for too long."

"But ..." Meili looked at Colby and Nigel for help. Colby was happy to be away from the colony and didn't want to push their luck.

Nigel asked "How easy is the path?"

Ancyllia considered. "It's ... Well, you'll find your way eventually."

This was far from reassuring. Realising this, Ancyllia added, "But we might be able to find a human in here. If we do, you can just follow them. They tend to know the way."

That was the best they were going to get and they knew it. Even Meili didn't push the matter, though she looked far from happy with the arrangement.

Luckily, there _was_ a human in the passages. A few Paras had been walking ahead of them to check the tunnels for any threats. When one returned, telling Ancyllia they had seen a young trainer resting just round the corner, Colby, Meili and Nigel finally stopped worrying about spending the next week down here. The Paras accompanied them to just before the turning. The majority of the group hung back as Ancyllia saw them off.

"You should be fine from here," she said. "Just stick to the shadows and they should lead you out of here in about a day or so,"

"Thanks." said Nigel. "We should be fine."

Colby glanced up to the roof.

"Thank you for getting us out of that, by the way," he said.

"Oh, it's fine," Ancyllia waved it off. "I would say you owe me one but we probably won't ever see each other again."

"Hopefully." Colby heard Meili say under her breath.

"So, good luck with whatever brought you down here. And please don't get lost again."

And with that, Ancyllia moved to join the group of Paras and the bugs scuttled down the passage and out of sight.

"They're gone," Meili breathed, leaning against a stalagmite. She shot Nigel and Colby a look. "Told you it would have been easier to go around."

"We, uh, got out at least," Colby offered. Meili rolled her eyes and pushed herself off the wall.

"Whatever. Let's just find this trainer and get out of here. This place is really putting me on edge."

Without another word, the group soundlessly shuffled around the corner and up the next passage.

The trainer was a girl, black hair down and almost grey because of the dust from the cave. Her green eyes were fixed on the pink cat Pokémon she was brushing as a Spearow stared sullenly at apparently nothing.

Colby blinked, just to be sure.

It was Eleanor.


	20. Chapter 20: An alternative

Meili threw out her wing, blocking Colby and Nigel from going any further.

"What's up?" Nigel asked, coking his head at her curiously.

"Just ... get back," Meili whispered.

"What ..."

"Back!" Meili pushed Nigel back as Colby willingly retreated. She continued until they were out of earshot of Eleanor.

When they had gone far enough, Nigel turned to Meili.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "Do you know her?"

"Kind of. We've battled her before. Her Spearow, though ..." She looked at Colby. "What should we do?"

"We need to follow them." Colby said. "But we don't _have_ to be seen."

"Too late."

The group spun around. Benu touched down fixed them with a weak glare. His feathers appeared more disheveled than usual and there were bags under his beady black eyes.

"What are you lot doing down here?" he asked.

"Hi Beaky!" Meili waved with false cheeriness. "Eleanor treating you ok?"

Benu ignored her and looked at Colby.

"You following Eleanor or something?"

Colby fidgeted under his disinterested stare. "No. Or ... Yes? Well, we weren't?"

Nigel thumped his tail, causing Benu to glance at him.

"We got lost down here so decided to follow you. We've only just arrived, though. I'm Nigel, by the way. I don't think we've met?"

"Dunno," Benu turned away. "Well, as much as I'd like to get away from Eleanor, you're hardly any better so I'm ..."

As he started to vanish round the corner he stopped and Colby saw his eyes roll. Focusing, he could hear very light pawsteps.

"Benu? Where are you? Eleanor is giving up down here so we're going soon."

Meili, who had been about to poke Benu, spun toward Colby.

"Quick!" she hissed. "I've forgotten her name!"

In the time it took Colby to recall who that voice belonged to, an Espurr had appeared. The frown she was directing at Benu quickly changed to wide eyed surprise.

"Hey! It's you two again!"

Meili nodded. "Yup! And it's you two."

Colby walked forward, giving Meili a half smile as he came to stand next to her.

"Hello Esme," he spoke softly.

Esme's eyes moved from Colby to Meili and then more confusedly to Nigel before she smiled.

"Have you been following us?" she asked.

"Apparently," Benu told her. He turned back to them now, "And I don't know why you sound happy about that," he added.

Smile instantly dissipating, Esme twirled to face him.

"Well, think about it. Why would they follow us? They've tried to get captured by Eleanor once, and shortly after that we met them in the Viridian gym trying to battle Blue. They've found Eleanor now to try get her to catch them."

Spinning back to them with her smile returning, she asked. "Right?"

Benu said something under his breath that Colby didn't catch. Meili understood though, she snorted with laughter which she quickly stifled. She recovered and glared at Benu.

Averting his eyes from Esme and wondering why this job had fallen to him again, Colby muttered, "No. We're just lost." And then, as Esme's wide, expressive eyes seemed to fill with disappointment, "Sorry."

"Oh. Well ... Why are you here?" Her eyes narrowed at them. "Because I don't see why three wild Pokémon would want to visit this mountain."

Benu sighed. "They're lost so they're following us to get out. Don't see why considering Eleanor has spent the last two days looking for a Clefairy, but whatever. Could we possibly go before she comes over? She'll try to battle them and she hasn't realised it yet but she only has one potion left." He vanished around the next passageway and, with only a short look back at them, Esme hurried to follow.

"Well, that was just bloody rude." Nigel commented. "Who were they?"

"Their trainer battled us once and we've met them a few times since" Meili summed up.

"We know Benu from back home," Colby chipped in.

"So I'm guessing you're not friends."

"No!" Meili snapped. "The Espurr is just stuck up and Benu has an attitude that's bad even for a Spearow. Trust me, I've asked."

"Guys?" Colby called, glancing out where Eleanor was putting things away and standing. "We should probably get going."

Following Eleanor in the dark was no easy feat. They had to stay far enough back to not be noticed but close enough so they wouldn't lose the trail. Colby and Nigel's more sensitive hearing and smell proved incredibly useful while Meili was left clutching Colby's back to lead the way. At least other wild Pokémon left them be; The presence of Eleanor probably had something to do with that.

Eventually, they came to a stop in a similar place to where they had started. Despite their exhaustion from almost two days of wandering the caves, they all agreed to take it in turns to keep watch for when Eleanor started again in the morning. None of them trusted themselves to wake up in time.

"Can't we just get one of them to tell us?" Meili asked, flapping a wing up the passage at Eleanor and her team. She seemed to be struggling to keep her eyes open and she leaned heavily against the wall, head nodding occasionally.

"I ... don't know if I would trust them to do that," Nigel muttered. "Anyway, we might get attacked in the night." Colby shivered remembering the Paras.

Meili sighed. "Fine. Who first, then?"

"I will," Colby offered. "And I think Nigel should go second. You need the rest, Meili."

"Aww, thanks." Meili's face lit up and she swept Colby up with one wing. Relaxing into the feathered embrace, Colby looked tentatively at Nigel. "That is if that's okay with you?"

Nigel shrugged, a motion appeared to travel through his entire body. "Fine by me. Let's say three hours each?"

Colby and Meili gave him blank looks.

"We can't tell the time down here." Meili pointed out.

"Oh." Nigel frowned. "Well, until we feel tired?"

That was about as well as they could do and so, with nothing left to be said, Meili and Nigel settled down to rest. Meili gave Colby a quick peck on the cheek, which was a little painful considering how literally she took it, and went to perch on a stalagmite. She was gently snoring within an instant.

As Nigel coiled up, two wide pale eyes peeked out at them. It was Esme. The pink Espurr, after making sure her trainer would be alright on the cave floor, had crept back to the group of wild Pokémon and waited for an opportunity to speak with one. Now, she moved silently toward the Rattata, undetectable if it weren't for her bright pink fur. The Rattata somehow failed to notice as Esme came to stand right next to him. Not sure where to go from there, Esme decided to tap him on the shoulder.

"Wha!" The Rattata let out a strangled cry of shock and tried to bolt off. He tripped, fell tail over head and flopped to the cave floor, panting heavily. He stared at her, eyes wide in panic and ears pressed back. His expression turned to bewilderment as he rolled back onto all fours.

"Esme?" he gasped, still panting for air. "What ..."

It was all Esme could do to keep herself from laughing at the jumpy Rattata's antics. Taking a second to compose herself, she stepped back to give him some room and apologised.

"Sorry. I didn't want to wake up your friends." She looked at the two slumbering Pokémon. Since his shout hadn't woken them, she doubted her soft voice would.

The Rattata glanced about. The fact that Esme wanted him alone was apparently not lost on him.

"Oh,"

Esme searched her brain for his name. She wasn't sure if she had ever been told. Did he even have one? Perhaps it was just Rattata? Well, that would be where she would start. Better than just diving right in to what she wanted to ask.

"So, do you have a name?"

The corner of one of his red eyes briefly met her own.

"Yes?" he said. "It's Colby."

They fell into silence and Esme had to stop herself from sighing. It would seem she would have to drag him through this conversation.

"So, what brings you down here?" she tried.

"We're traveling," said Colby. That told her nothing new. What he said next, though, was much more interesting. "You see, we're, uh ... doing the gym challenge."

"Wait, what?" Esme frowned in confusion and looked at the little group. "So, you _do_ have a trainer?"

"No." Colby readjusted his scarf. "We tried to get caught but no one really wanted us so we've just been challenging the gyms ourselves. We already have these." Two metal symbols came into view and Esme gasped. Before either of them knew it, she had darted forward to examine them. Colby let out a squeak of surprise. Her paws gripped the scarf to steady it as she brought her face closer to get a better look.

"These are the Earth and Boulder badges!" she exclaimed, letting go and giving Colby his personal space back. "How did _you_ get them?" and then, more suspiciously. "You didn't steal them, did you?"

"No!" The hurt frown Colby gave at that accusation almost evaporated her suspicion. She had to remind herself that this was a wild Pokémon.

"Okay," she said for now. "So, how did you get them? Eleanor only just beat Blue and it took some very expensive TMs to deal with Brock."

"Well ... We had to prepare a bit for the first one. The other was mostly just luck, I think."

Esme decided she was willing to accept that.

"Don't you think it would be easier if you had a trainer?" she asked, fighting back a grin as she moved to her purpose for coming back her. Colby looked at her again, nose crinkled in confusion.

"Probably but ... Well, we couldn't get captured."

Esme realised this was the moment to make her offer. Only now did she let the corners of her mouth get tugged upwards and she rubbed her paws together.

"Well," she began. "I was wondering if you would like to join us?"

She was pleased at his stunned look as his mouth hung open a little. She raised a paw, stopping him before he could answer.

"Now, I know what you wild Pokémon are like. I've met Beaky, after all." she winked which he didn't acknowledge. "I know you like your freedom and want to do things your way. The thing is that having a trainer doesn't really take that away from you." Colby's ear twitched. He was interested. Hurriedly, she went on.

"You three would make us a full team, but she's probably going to catch more. You would be rotated into the team as Eleanor needed and you could do what you like in the meantime. Eleanor's father has agreed to keep any Pokémon she's not using so you'll be well looked after."

Colby looked down.

"I ... I don't know?"

Esme sighed again. She'd known they would be like this.

"Well, why not? It's your best option. You can get stronger without fearing getting killed or captured." Esme placed a paw on his shoulder. "Pokémon like you don't belong in the wild. You want to grow and learn. Not just survive like most. So, how about it?"

Secretly, Esme was quite pleased with herself. She thought this was a great idea and that she'd made quite the pitch.

"No." Colby wasn't looking at her so didn't see as her face fell. "Sorry, it's just that ... well ... we want to do this ourselves."

"But you don't have to!" Esme protested.

"I know – and thank you for the offer. But I don't think we belong with you. Your trainer has already turned us down once."

"I know, but I could convince her. Don't worry about that."

Colby's discomfort was growing rapidly as he shuffled about and he flicked his tail. "It's just that she wouldn't want us. She already has a flying type, one trainer has already released Nigel and I'm just a Rattata."

"But ..." Esme was shocked to find she didn't have a response for that.

"Well, if you're sure." she said. Colby looked fondly to his friends.

"We are. We just ... don't belong with a trainer."

Esme began to make her way back up the tunnel.

"We'll be leaving early," she called back. "Try to make sure you're ready to go."

She'd almost reached the point where the shadows would completely engulf her small frame, but a question from Colby caused her to turn back.

"Why do you love it so much?"

"What?" Esme asked, moving back toward him so her voice could carry, "Being with Eleanor?" Colby nodded. It wasn't a hard question, so Esme didn't hesitate before explaining.

"She's been with me since just after I hatched. You see, her dad wanted to get her a special starter so he contacted a Kalosian breeder and I was chosen for ..." and it was at this point she had to stop herself from doing one of her contest poses, "obvious reasons."

Instead of nodding and letting her go on, Colby looked her up and down with a look of confusion.

"Uh, because you were the strongest?" He asked.

Esme stared, disappointed that he hadn't picked up on it.

"No ..." She drew out, hoping he would say something before she would have to. "It's because I'm shiny."

The statement was met with a tilted head and complete lack of comprehension.

"Shiny?" She pushed. "Alternatively coloured? No?"

"Like my father?" Colby asked, innocently. "He's from Alola and doesn't look like a usual Raticate."

"No, not like that." Esme deflated a little. "Most Espurr are grey and white, but occasionally one will be born like me. Eleanor's dad wanted a pink Espurr because pink is her favourite colour so I was chosen." She let her eyes mist over a bit. "I just feel lucky that I was born this way. She's my best friend. She understands me because we've been together for so long. Anyway, why do you care? You don't want a trainer."

"Oh ..." Colby looked down and twisted his tail around one paw. "Nothing. Just wondering if you'd even experienced being wild."

Esme scoffed.

"Of course not." she said. She turned away and vanished without another word.

"So, she wanted us to join them?"

The next day Colby told the others about Esme's offer. He was secretly afraid that they would want to accept but Meili had the same attitude as him.

"Yeah, I'm not joining a team with any of them." she declared.

"Nice of her to offer, though." Nigel commented. "But, yeah. I don't think I want another trainer."

"Especially not her. You didn't see her in Viridian, Nigel, but she's ..."

"Sssh." Colby interjected. He'd heard something coming closer. Nigel heard it too and he tensed up as a Beedrill came into view. Colby gave him a nod to reassure him that this was one of Eleanor's Pokémon.

"Found you." said the Beedrill happily, hovering in front of them. "We haven't spoken, but I'm Sting. The others told me about you."

"Uh, hi?" said Meili.

"Yeah, hi." Sting rubbed the back of his head with one stinger. "Just telling you we're turning back."

"What!" Meili seemed horrified. "But ... why?"

"Well, there's something going on around the exit we were headed to."

"How much further is it?" Meili scraped her talons along the floor and seemed ready to scream.

"About a day from here? The other way is just ahead but ..."

"But what? What's the problem!" Colby flinched and ran to Meili's side, placing a calming paw on her back. It worked a bit but she still growled with every breath.

"The Pokémon rangers have to deal with some Zubat."

Colby felt his breath catch at that name. He'd almost managed to forget about Viridian Forest.

"Rangers?" Meili asked, voice shaking. "Like, humans in orange uniforms with mind control devices?"

"Oh, you know what they are?"

"Yes. Yes, we know them." She glared at Sting, taking him off guard. "What are they doing!" she demanded.

"I, uh ..." Sting stuttered, buzzing away from Meili.

"Meili, calm down." Colby whispered. He looked up to Sting and said, "Please, last time we met rangers they killed one of our friends."

"Huh?" Nigel asked and Colby gave him a look that said they would explain later.

"If they're doing that again then ..." Colby looked to Meili, not wanting to lock them into a course of action without her agreement.

"We need to do something." Meili finished, firmly.

Sting floated in place. He seemed uncertain, glancing back up to his. He tapped his stingers together and hummed.

"I don't know," he said. "Eleanor thinks what they are doing might be important."

"I kind of agree."

Colby and Meili turned to see Nigel, head dipped and eyes fixed on the stone floor. He seemed to want them to say something, whether it be to disregard him or ask more but the silence that followed told him he should explain himself. He met their eyes and, in an exasperated but almost pleading voice, he said:

"Come on, these are rangers. They are meant to protect people and Pokémon from each other. They don't _want_ to harm anyone."

"You think so?" Meili growled. She spread her wings and fluttered forward to land before a startled Nigel. "So, they didn't want to hurt the Pikachu we met in viridian? The Pikachu who almost joined us to escape the others of his species? The Pikachu who ended up killed just because he was a member of a species that had caused a few problems? Did they want to hurt me when they shot a hole in my wing and left me unable to fly for over a week?"

As Meili's frustrated tirade continued and built to a shrill scream Nigel slowly backed off until his body was completely pressed against the stone wall. Even Colby moved himself away from his irate mate and Sting shot up to the roof and peered down at them in trepidation.

"I'm sorry!" Nigel blurted. "I ... I ... Yes! You're right. I just thought ... I didn't know."

Meili huffed and turned away. "Good." She took off and snapped at Sting to show them where the rangers were. The Beedrill zipped off and Meili followed close behind. Colby tentatively approached Nigel.

"Hey ... Are you alright?" he wanted to help more but could only offer a calming paw on Nigel's neck as he re adjusted himself back onto the floor. Colby was surprised he was quivering a little.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He tried for a weak grin. "Forgot she had such a temper." He began to follow Meili..

"Are you sure?"

"It's really okay. She's just frustrated from being down here for so long. I shouldn't have doubted your story."

Colby wasn't convinced. He decided he would try to approach the subject with Meili as soon as they had checked out this ranger situation.


	21. Chapter 21: In defence of Zubat

Catching up with Meili proved to be no problem as their impromptu guide was waylaid by one of his teammates. Esme stood, hands on hips, glowering at Sting while her trainer watched in bewilderment as a growing crowd of unfamiliar Pokémon began to argue with her starter.

"They're going to do what?" Esme was yelling.

"They're very insistent!" Sting protested. "Anyway, they seem to have a good reason."

"Like what?" Esme turned her attention to Meili who unflinchingly matched her stare. "What would make you think this is a good idea?"

"Maybe because we've seen them murder in the past!" Meili snapped.

Esme scoffed. "Even if you had, I'm sure they had a good reason. Like, a Pokémon was a _big_ threat to humans kind of reason."

"He was a friend!" Meili seethed as Colby finally drew level with her."We met a Pikachu in Viridian forest and ..."

"Oh, a Pikachu? Like, those vicious little rats who would have killed us if we hadn't fought them off?" Esme turned her attention to Colby. "You seem more sensible! Tell her this is ridiculous!"

Colby's eyes flitted from Meili to Esme and back again.

"We ..." he swallowed. "We just need to make sure everything's okay," he muttered.

Esme's eyes narrowed. "Well, I'm not letting you," she declared, moving to block as much of the tunnel as she could with her small body.

"That's not going to work." Meili smirked and took off. A bolt of electrical energy sent her reeling back.

"Oh really?" Esme challenged as Eleanor caught on that this would be a battle. She pulled a ball from her belt and flung it, "Beaky, help Esme!" And Eleanor scurried away from the conflict. Benu appeared in the air facing Meili. He looked unimpressed.

"What ..." He began.

"We're stopping them from passing, so shut up!" Esme cut in. Benu locked eyes with Meili and before he could say anything more he was caught in a Gust. Benu retaliated by trying to jab his Beak into Meili's wing, Colby ducked under an electrical bolt from Esme. He flattened his ears against his head and rushed into a Quick Attack. He flashed by Esme and instinctively clamped his jaws over her arm. A ball of green energy flung him back again.

Colby skidded to a stop before he hit a rock and started another Quick Attack. This time he went in circles around Esme as she tried to hit him with either Charge Beam or Energy Ball.

"Try to get a Psybeam to last for a while and hit it with that!" Eleanor called. Esme's eyes lit up and a second later, Colby ran right into a shaft of pure concussive force. Another jolt shook his body a moment later as he was smacked into the cave wall.

Meanwhile, Nigel and Sting looked at each other blankly.

"I think this means we're fighting, then?" Sting asked.

"I guess," Nigel mumbled, looking on with concern.

"Or ..." Sting spoke when Nigel gave no further answer. "We could just let them work this one out?" he said hopefully.

Nigel looked up in relief. "I guess if you intervene then I will and vice versa." he said and Sting nodded. "Well, no use in escalating things." He concluded and the two poison types settled in to watch the battle.

After being hit by the Psybeam, Colby took a couple seconds to shake off a slight dizziness. He stumbled to his feet and looked to Esme who had her arms crossed.

"Is this really worth it?" she asked, forgoing the opportunity to attack.

"We might be able to help." Colby protested. He only just avoided the Psybeam that she sent back.

Meili glanced down from where her and Benu had entered an aerial dance. Benu would try to approach for one of his close range attacks only to be buffeted back by a Gust or Whirlwind. Neither had gotten a good hit in though.

"Colby!" she shouted as her friend darted around Esme's attacks, struggling to get close. Colby looked up. "Just distract Benu for a moment and get ready to attack Esme!"

Colby had no clue what that meant, but intended to see it through. He looked about for an idea and darted up a sloping ledge on one wall. As he ascended, he kept track of Benu. He smiled to himself when he saw Meili blowing the Spearow toward him with a Gust. The moment he ran out of ledge, Colby channeled into a Quick Attack to boost his jump. By some miracle, he landed on Benu's back. Benu could only let out a pained squawk as he dropped. Not even thinking, Colby latched his teeth around one of Benu's wings. Benu swung about and his wing glowed with steel energy.

Colby jumped off just in time for Benu to avoid crashing. Rat met stone for the second time and Benu fluttered off.

"Now!"

A shout from Meili drew Colby from a moment of stunned inaction and he jumped to his feet. The reason quickly became obvious. Meili had caught Esme in a Twister attack and now the Espurr had been sent flying right towards him. His first reaction was to dodge, but instead he opened his mouth and snatched one of Esme's legs just as she was about to hit. He pivoted on his back legs and, with a grunt of effort, skidding Esme across the cave floor. She landed hard and he rushed in with a Tackle before she could close their distance.

Colby ducked a close-range Energy Ball and clamped on her arm with Super Fang. He tried to swing her again but only caused Esme to stumble before he was forced to let go by Charge Beam. A moment later, Esme was trying to scurry back from him and he launched himself into Quick Attack.

 _Clang_! Colby hit a blunt metal force rather than the soft fur he had expected. A second such blow met the side of his head and he collapsed.

Colby looked up. Esme stood over him, the energy of her Iron Tail attack dissipating.

"Give up!" she half growled, half yelled. Colby didn't respond. He was still blinking rapidly to stop his vision from swirling around him, only coming to his senses in time to see another Psybeam forming between Esme's paws. He panicked. Jumping to his feet, he jabbed a paw forward. It met something squishy, Esme let out a shriek and her attack detonated, sending both of them stumbling back.

When the smoke cleared, Colby looked about disoriented. Esme was holding her paws over one side of her face. There was silence, and then,

"You poked me in the eye!" Esme accused. Colby just stared.

"Uh ... Sorry?" he squeaked.

Esme breathed heavily for a few seconds before responding with a pitiful moan of "Ow!"

Colby had no clue what he should be doing now. Apologising more, maybe? Or perhaps he should just sneak past her? Continuing the fight seemed out of the question. Esme was whimpering and he'd feel bad.

"How does it look!" Esme finally demanded, removing her paws and looking up suddenly.

"What?"

"My eye!" Esme snapped. "Does it look okay?"

"Umm ..." Colby took in the damage. It wasn't that bad, he thought. It was a little red and watering but nothing beyond that. He told her as much.

"Good." Esme said. She fixed him with a glare. "You're not meant to blind your opponent you know!"

"I-I'm sorry! It was a battle!" Colby stuttered. Truthfully, he was just confused as to how this had derailed so quickly.

"Yeah well ..." Esme stopped when Benu slammed into the ground in a burst of wind.

"Come on, Colby! Nigel ... What are you doing? Whatever, just follow me." Meili swooped down the tunnel. With one last look at Esme, Colby rushed after her. He had to avoid a badly aimed Psybeam as he went but neither Eleanor nor her team gave chase.

"What now?" Nigel asked, hurrying to keep up.

Colby panted, "Sting said the rangers were just down here, right?"

"Hopefully." said Meili. As the stone passage began to open out, the group slowed down. None of them spoke. Colby focused his ears to pick up on any kind of activity, it wasn't hard to find. Two voices, definitely humans, were speaking in hushed tones. Signaling for the others to stay behind for a moment, he scurried forward and poked his head into the next chamber.

The floor before him seemed flat enough, but to his right it dropped off about twenty feet down. He could see a narrow passage on the other end of the room, his hear jumped when he made out a shaft of light. The problem the rangers were dealing with became immediately clear. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of roundish bat Pokémon circled overhead, screeching and fluttering. They were mostly Zubat but Colby spotted larger Pokémon that he guessed were evolved. One seemed to have two sets of wings, but it was hard to tell.

He didn't look for long before an orange and black-clad human caught his attention. The sight of that uniform, along with the strange device at their belt, caused him to shiver. Colby noted, with some relief, that the device that had killed Rese and injured Meili seemed to be missing.

The human knelt next to the hole in the ground, talking to someone else.

"You sure this will be alright, Graham?" he was asking. A lower, more gravelly voice replied.

"Aye, it'll be fine. I've done it before plenty."

The first ranger's eyes glanced up at the flock.

"Yeah, I'm sure you're right. It's just ... there's a lot of them."

"Well, Zack, if you're as good with that styler as you've been saying ..."

The styler. Colby could still remember the feeling. In the moment, it seemed fine. Completely natural. That light radiated a feeling of comfort and good intentions. He'd even felt like they had had some mutual understanding. But after the fact ... It wasn't right. He'd had no reason to trust the rangers in that moment but the styler just made him stand aside. And it seemed the rangers would be using them here on the Zubat.

The effect on Colby had been disconcerting, but use on a larger population could be worse. Much worse.

Colby tried to take in the flock. There had to be at least a thousand. He imagined them all falling to the ranger's influence; being forced from their home and led ... somewhere. But maybe that wasn't all. What could the influence of those devices get Pokémon to do? He tried to think to when it had been used on him and imagined what he would have been willing to do in that moment. He found, to his horror, he couldn't honestly say.

He'd heard enough. As he'd been pondering the stylers, the ranger he could see was getting in place. Colby turned and darted back up the passage. If they were going to stop this, they didn't have much time.

"They're starting. They're going to use their capture styler to control the Zubat and lead them away. We need to go." He rattled off the moment he found his friends.

Meili looked confused for a moment but then she gasped.

"You mean they have those mind control devices?" she asked and Colby nodded. "What about those ..." She glanced at her wing. Colby knew what she meant.

"No, don't worry." He tried to give her a reassuring smile. He didn't think it worked.

"Good." Meili sighed. "Let's go then." She took off and soared up the tunnel.

Colby turned to follow but looked at Nigel, who failed to move.

"Um, you coming?" He asked.

"What?" Nigel shook his head. "Oh, yeah … coming."

Colby wasn't convinced. He wanted to say that he didn't have to, but there was no time. Anyway, considering Meili's reaction earlier, he wasn't sure if it was even true.

As they ran, they attempted to formulate some strategy for taking on the rangers. The resulting plan was mostly Meili's idea. She would surprise attack the ranger on the lower area of the cave and Colby and Nigel would team up on the other. Colby wasn't entirely happy with the idea, and he didn't think Nigel was either, but in the end there was nothing they could suggest before the time for action had arrived.

The rangers had already started. Two disks circled sections of the flocks, drawing them into two groups.

Meili soundlessly swooped into the cavern and joined the flock of bats overhead. Colby kept track of the brown amongst the masses of blue and purple as she made her way to where the room dropped off.

Once in place, Meili circled for a few moments, taking in the sight of Graham. Whatever she saw seemed to satisfy her as she looked to Colby and nodded.

Colby rushed out as Meili dove. He headed right for Zack, who failed to notice until Colby jumped him. Using his claws to grip the orange and black uniform, Colby scrambled up Zack's side. He was aiming for his face in a bid to distract him from his task, and would have made it if it weren't for a scream from Meili's direction. Looking over, he let out a tiny yelp as a column of fire burst into view. That moment was all Zack needed to fling Colby from his arm and reach for a Pokéball.

Nigel tried to jump him before he could call for help but a blue fist sent him reeling. Both of them hung back after that, taking in their opponent. It was a frog-like creature, with a spiral pattern on its stomach and two intimidatingly muscular arms.

"Poliwrath!" Zack demanded. "Keep these two away from me while I finish up!"

Poliwrath didn't reply, only punched its fists together and shot a stream of bubbles at Colby. _Bubbles_? Colby didn't let his confusion at the projectile stop him from avoiding them. Good thing too, as each bubble burst behind him with the force of a small explosion.

A brief reprieve came when Nigel sprayed a cocktail of toxins from his mouth, causing Poliwrath to jump over the attack and rush the Ekans. He was intercepted by a Quick Attack from Colby but barely even noticed, even as Colby clung onto its leg with Super Fang. Nigel was sent tumbling with a kick and just avoided an ice infused punch before he swung his body about and plunged a purple glowing tail into Poliwrath's side.

In return, Poliwrath blew Nigel away with another bubble beam. Meanwhile, Colby jumped up at Poliwrath, biting and slashing at his rubbery skin with little effect. Once Nigel was out of the way, Poliwrath swiped at Colby like a speck of dirt

Colby hung on, avoiding the same fate as Nigel who'd wilted against the wall.

Nigel coughed. He pulled himself off the ground and looked over, gritting his teeth. At the very least, his constant use of Quick Attack today would leave him drained and sore. Despite their efforts, Poliwrath only sported a few miner scratches. He just hoped that one of Nigel's attacks had managed to poison him.

"What do you want to do now?" Nigel wheezed. Colby panted, struggling to get enough oxygen to his brain. He eyed Poliwrath cautiously. At the moment, he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

"I don't think we can beat him," he admitted.

"So, what? Retreat?"

"I ..." Colby stopped. Zack was focused on trapping the Zubat, controlling that glowing disk to make loops around his section of the flock. Each round he included more and more but it looked like they had some time before he would be ready. Keeping his voice down, Colby whispered, "We can go for the human. I think if we destroy that device they won't be able to continue."

Nigel looked in the same direction, wincing at the suggestion.

"Mind if I join you with that?"

Colby and Nigel looked up just as Meili half-landed half-flopped between them. She was burned badly in several spots, some feathers blackened and coated in ash. At seeing their shocked looks, she explained.

"The thing down there has cannons for arms and shoots fire. So, we're attacking the human?"

"Uh, yeah." Colby said, collecting himself. There would be time to go over their injuries later. He frowned.

"Actually, maybe you two should keep the Poliwrath away."

"You sure?" Nigel asked.

Colby nodded. "Yeah."

Meili fluttered into the air.

"Fine by me." She said. "Let's go!"

In a frantic series of flaps, Meili sent waves of air at Poliwrath who stumbled before finding his footing. Using the brief moment of distraction, Nigel surged forward and slashed at the swirl on his stomach like a target. Meanwhile, Colby streaked toward Zack. He clambered up the orange and black ranger uniform and was almost at his shoulder before he reacted.

With an undignified scream, Zack began batting at him ineffectively with his free hand. Compared with the hits he'd already taken today, a few light swats weren't going to slow him down. His claws dug in deeper and he willed his legs to drag his body up further. He had reached the arm holding the device now. He could see Meili weaving around icy punches from Poliwrath who also blasted Nigel with bursts of bubbles. He obviously wasn't too focused on them, however, as his eyes fixed on Colby. After managing to swat Meili aside, he began to run at Zack and Colby.

Colby panicked. In what was almost at instinctive reaction, he bit down hard on the arm he was clinging to. For a moment, it seemed like that had done it. Zack yelped and the device slipped from his grip. Colby jumped after it, ready to damage it further should the fall not do the trick. But then Poliwrath arrived. A rubbery, slimy hand wrapped around Colby. The other plucked the styler from mid-air and handed it back to his owner.

Struggling and thrashing, Colby was eye to eye with the frog. He spoke for the first time in their battle in a throaty, gurgling voice.

"Stay away from Zack."

And then, like a tennis serve, he tossed Colby upwards and sent him hurtling away with a bone breaking smack.

Colby soared, almost gracefully, across the Cavern. He plummeted further and further down and realized he'd been sent to the lower end of the cave.

"Colby!" He heard Meili yell and braced for impact. A burst of wind blew him sideways, and then and around. Opening his eyes, Colby realised he was caught in one of Meili's Whirlwind attacks. She was hovering above him, clenching her beak as she gradually lowered Colby to the stone floor. The winds buffeted him about and the landing was by no means smooth but in the end he survived with minimal injury.

For a few moments, Colby allowed himself to just breath. Once he was feeling a bit better, he looked up, intending to thank Meili for the save.

Instead of his friend flying high above him, a red and orange face met his. Also facing him down were two cannons, both of which had a reddish glow growing within. The Pokémon spoke:

"Bet you wish you'd stayed up there."

Colby only just dodged the first fire ball. He rolled aside, yelping as part of the fur on his back was burnt away, and scurried to his feet. As a jet of flames emerged from the second cannon, he tried to enter a quick attack only to stumble. He simply didn't have the energy so he was forced to run and duck as every space around him was coated the flame.

Scorching stone burned his paws and soon his lungs were filled with smoke. It was only when the heat was rendering him delirious when a reprieve came in the form of a splattering of acid from above. Colby looked up just in time to see Nigel's head vanish over the side. Before the orange Pokémon could recover, Meili barreled into the back of its head, sending it stumbling forwards.

"Same plan as before, Colby!" She yelled.

 _Because that worked so well last time_ , Colby thought but made his way towards this new ranger anyway. The Pokémon smashed a cannon into the ground behind him as he went, peppering him with shards of scorching rock.

Unfortunately, Graham was more prepared than Zack. As Colby got close, a boot sent him tumbling away again. His second try almost resulted in his tail getting pinned but he managed to jump onto the boot on his third attempt and scrambled up his body and along his arm to the capture styler before he could be dislodged.

"Magmortar!" Graham yelled to his Pokémon. "Get this thing off me!"

Magmortar spun from trying to torch meili and aimed a cannon at his trainer.

"No!" Graham quickly realised where that would go. "Don't fire at me!"

Magmortar lowered his cannons. He looked from them to his trainer with an expression that said _Well, what do you want me to do?_

Growling, Graham tried to rip Colby away. He slashed at the beefy hand with a paw, sending it reeling. He made one more effort to move forwards, and he was there. His teeth closed around the styler, nipping a few fingers in the process. Graham let go of the device while Colby released his arm. Both of them fell down and, just as they landed, Colby felt the casing crack between his teeth. Plastic splintered, circuits sparked sending jolts through Colby's body and by the time he picked himself up, the styler was unusable.

Graham froze. Magmortar froze. Meili cheered. And the Zubat began to panic.


End file.
